HEALTH

Cancer: Health Services

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average spend per patient by each cancer network was in England in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The following tables show estimated cancer spend per 100,000 unified weighted population by cancer networks between 2003-04 and 2006-07.
	The information for 2006-07 takes account of network changes of the period as well as changes in primary care trust boundaries.
	Information on the average cancer spend per patient by each cancer network is not available.
	
		
			  Estimated cancer spend per 100,000 unified weighted population by cancer network 
			  Cancer network  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 3 Counties 7,352,905 8,803,135 9,605,444 
			 Arden 5,946,311 7,869,109 8,143,444 
			 Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire 7,322,342 7,951,176 9,110,814 
			 Black Country 5,466,811 7,154,351 7,215,802 
			 Central South Coast 6,454,941 7,514,424 7,905,812 
			 Derby/Burton 6,105,247 7,651,118 8,551,917 
			 Dorset 8,410,611 8,095,934 8,999,355 
			 Greater Manchester and Cheshire 5,929,702 6,890,628 8,391,498 
			 Humber and Yorkshire Coast 6,538,239 7,656,806 9,089,945 
			 Kent and Medway 6,856,214 7,892,461 8,728,802 
			 Lancashire and South Cumbria 6,711,127 7,616,983 8,321,579 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 5,939,039 7,444,614 8,545,102 
			 Merseyside and Cheshire 4,828,824 5,896,231 7,266,085 
			 Mid Anglia 7,342,966 8,736,832 10,177,584 
			 Mid Trent 6,986,351 8,463,279 9,501,574 
			 Mount Vernon 5,674,107 6,666,115 7,235,566 
			 Norfolk and Waveney 7,922,431 9,403,802 10,000,083 
			 North East London 5,540,609 6,775,849 6,873,358 
			 North London 6,616,266 7,800,055 8,197,962 
			 North Trent 6,426,320 7,756,204 8,462,155 
			 North West Midlands 5,964,855 6,310,657 7,424,388 
			 Northern 5,951,231 7,911,981 8,598,384 
			 Pan Birmingham 5,896,215 6,198,081 7,881,867 
			 Peninsula 7,717,605 8,722,304 10,072,957 
			 South-east London 5,307,468 7,329,549 7,838,521 
			 South Essex 6,772,353 7,549,734 7,701,955 
			 South-west London 7,460,896 7,865,838 7,994,424 
			 Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire 7,537,915 8,442,021 8,510,842 
			 Sussex 6,023,842 7,000,668 7,689,727 
			 Teesside, South Durham and North Yorkshire 6,127,683 6,888,277 7,731,358 
			 Thames Valley 6,598,528 7,547,632 8,312,444 
			 West Anglia 6,954,469 7,868,446 9,438,327 
			 West London 6,609,489 6,913,761 6,803,347 
			 Yorkshire 6,832,843 8,261,949 8,664,021 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for 2003 -04 are for primary care trust (PCT) net spend. 2. Figures for 2004-05 and 2005-06 are PCT Net spend by population. 3. Where a PCT falls under the responsibility of two cancer networks, the totality of their expenditure is included in both cancer networks' figures. 
		
	
	
		
			  Estimated cancer spend per 100,000 unified weighted population by cancer network 
			  Cancer network  2006-07 
			 Anglia 8,042,243 
			 Arden 9,099,693 
			 Avon, Somerset and Wiltshire 8,415,338 
			 Central South Coast 8,543,103 
			 Derby/Burton 8,407,591 
			 Dorset 9,672,039 
			 Essex 7,592,103 
			 Greater Manchester and Cheshire 8,355,187 
			 Greater Midlands 8,308,205 
			 Humber and Yorkshire coast 8,824,434 
			 Kent and Medway 8,034,291 
			 Lancashire and South Cumbria 8,674,769 
			 Leicester 8,304,508 
			 Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland 8,965,735 
			 Merseyside and Cheshire 8,022,190 
			 Mid Trent 10,037,619 
			 Mount Vernon 6,312,047 
			 North-east London 6,824,097 
			 North London 7,195,893 
			 North of England 8,524,982 
			 North Trent 8,099,633 
			 Pan Birmingham 8,050,154 
			 Peninsula 7,775,190 
			 South-east London 7,012,894 
			 South-west London 8,717,608 
			 Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire 9,215,183 
			 Sussex 7,691,610 
			 Thames Valley 8,199,193 
			 West London 6,142,160 
			 Yorkshire 9,139,579 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are PCT net spend by population. 2. Where a PCT falls under the responsibility of two cancer networks, the totality of their expenditure is included in both cancer networks' figures.

Chlamydia: Screening

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2008,  Official Report, column 2854W, on Chlamydia screening, what performance management routes are being used by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The performance management routes being used are through regular and frequent discussions with strategic health authorities who are accountable for delivery among their organisations.

Health Services: Voluntary Organisations

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made towards ensuring third sector organisations providing services in  (a) Lincolnshire and  (b) England are awarded three-year contracts.

Ivan Lewis: Information on the proportion of contracts awarded to third sector providers that are for three years is not collected centrally. However, the Department fully supports the expectation that Government Departments pass on the certainty of longer-term funding, where appropriate, to the third sector organisations that they and their agencies fund.
	The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) has proposed a staged approach to implementing three-year funding. The Department will work between now and 31 October 2008, to establish the arrangements needed to ensure reporting in 2009 on the proportion of funding arrangements between primary care trusts (PCTs) and third sector organisations that allow for three year funding, that do not impose unnecessary burdens on PCTs.
	The 2008-09 NHS Operating Framework included the message that PCTs should not feel prevented from entering into three year agreements with local partners including small and medium enterprises and the third sector that establish practical measures to maximise their capacity to deliver health and well-being outcomes.

Hospices: Finance

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospices in England received funding from his Department in the last 12 months.

Ivan Lewis: It is for individual primary care trusts (PCTs) to decide the level of funding they allocate to end-of-life-care services, including hospices, based on assessments of local needs and priorities. The level of funding a hospice receives is a matter for negotiation between the local PCT and the hospice.
	In September 2006, the Government established a £40 million capital fund, which adult hospices were able to bid for to improve their physical environments. The funding has been made available as part of the dignity in care for older people work, although it will benefit all adult patients using hospice facilities. In April 2007, Ministers announced that 146 hospices, with 191 projects, had been allocated funding from the fund.

Incontinence: Medical Equipment

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure his Department has incurred on the review of Part IX of the drug tariff in 2008; and what the total cost of the review has been to date.

Dawn Primarolo: In 2008, the Department has spent £125,000 on the Part IX Review of the Drug Tariff up to 31 January, which is the latest figure available.
	The total cost of the review to date is £2.25 million.

NHS: Drugs

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS will seek reimbursement from pharmaceutical manufacturers for expenditure on ineffective Select Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors.

Dawn Primarolo: We have no plans to seek reimbursement from pharmaceutical manufacturers in respect of Select Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).
	The Committee on Safety of Medicines Expert Working Group on the safety of SSRIs undertook a comprehensive review of the safety of this entire class of drugs, examining all available evidence and reviewing all the regulatory advice issued. In December 2004, it concluded that the balance of risks and benefits of all SSRIs in adults remains positive in their licensed indications; however prescribers and patients should be more aware of the side effect profile of these medicines and the need for close monitoring of patients being treated for depressive illness or anxiety disorders.

NHS: Stress

Stephen Hesford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the annual cost of stress-related illness to the NHS.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Palliative Care

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what mechanisms his Department maintains standards in care plans for people in receipt of end of life care.

Ivan Lewis: The Supportive and Palliative Care Guidance published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommends that assessment and discussion of patients' needs for physical, psychological, social, spiritual and financial support should be undertaken at key points during the care pathway and that cancer networks should ensure a unified approach to the assessment and recording of patients' needs. The national health service has been required to set out action plans to achieve compliance with the NICE recommendations and cancer networks now have this unified approach in place. Implementation is being monitored by strategic health authorities. The End of Life Care Strategy, which covers care for all adult patients and which is due to be published this summer, will also address this issue.

Palliative Care

Willie Rennie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has issued on co-ordination of the provision of choice and dignity in end of life care between strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and hospices in the last twelve months.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has not issued guidance on the co-ordination of the provision of choice and dignity in end of life care between strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and hospices in the last 12 months. However, the 2008-09 NHS Operating Framework, which clearly sets out a relatively small number of main priorities for the NHS for the coming year, states that a key element of the forthcoming national End of Life Care Strategy for adults will be to improve people's access to high-quality services, close to their home. Central to the delivery of this change will be the development of rapid-response services and co-ordination centres. The strategy, which is due to be published this summer, will, among other issues, also address choice and dignity in end of life care.

Suicide: Essex

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health in what proportion of suicides in Essex the victim was previously known to be at risk by  (a) the NHS and  (b) social services in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: Information is not held centrally about people identified as at risk of suicide by the national health service or social services who later take their own life.
	The following table shows number of patients in the former Essex strategic health authority (SHA) who took their own life who were on enhanced care programme approach (CPA). The CPA is used to assess the care needs of, and provide a package of care for, people with severe mental illness. People on enhanced CPA are more likely to have multiple needs, require more frequent and intensive interventions and have higher levels of risk. However, not everyone on enhanced CPA will necessarily be identified as at risk of suicide.
	
		
			  Suicides under enhanced CPA( 1) , Essex SHA 
			   Number of people under enhanced CPA who committed suicide  Percentage of total number of suicides 
			 2001 11 31 
			 2002 9 24 
			 2003 17 35 
			 2004 16 37 
			 2005 18 43 
			 (1) For 2001, the data refer to patients under standard and enhanced CPA. For 2002 to 2005, the data refer only to people under enhanced CPA.  Source: The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness

Tranquillisers: Pregnant Women

Jim Dobbin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what services are provided to pregnant women to assist withdrawal from  (a) voluntary and  (b) involuntary or prescribed tranquilliser addiction.

Dawn Primarolo: The maternity services standard of the 'National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services' states that women who have substance misuse problems are at greater risk of problem pregnancies and their care should be provided by an integrated multidisciplinary and multi-agency team.
	All national health service maternity care providers and mental health trusts should have in place joint working arrangements for maternity and mental health services, including arrangements for direct access by midwives, general practitioners and obstetricians to a perinatal psychiatrist.

JUSTICE

Administration of Justice: Fees and Charges

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what changes HM Courts Service has made to the fees applying to court lists and registers for 2008-09.

Jack Straw: No changes have been made to the fees for photocopying court lists and registers. There is a minimum fee of £5 for up to 10 sheets and 50p thereafter payable for a copy of any document provided by the court.

Asylum and Immigration Tribunal: Databases

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what categories of information and variables are recorded on the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal database.

Jack Straw: The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal's database was designed to hold all information relevant to the administration of an appeal case, together with data essential for monitoring and reporting on the tribunal's performance. Due to the sheer volume of database categories, variables and fields, to provide a full list or comprehensive summary of these elements would be unwieldy, and to place such information in the public domain would breach agreements between the tribunal and its contracted software developers.

Departmental Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the total cost was of overnight accommodation for  (a) civil servants,  (b) special advisers and  (c) Ministers in his Department staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in the last 12 months.

David Hanson: It is not possible to list the costs spent on overnight accommodation by the Department in the last 12 months as the expenditure is not separately identifiable within the Department's accounts and may be provided only at a disproportionate cost.
	All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the "Ministerial Code" and "Travel by Ministers", copies of which are available in the Library of the House for the reference of Members. All official travel by civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the "Civil Service Management Code", a copy of which is also available in the Library of the House for the reference of Members.

Prisoner Escapes

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners who escaped from open prisons in each month since January 2007, broken down by  (a) prison and  (b) offence for which convicted; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: Records show that the level of absconds is the lowest for 10 years. Statistics show that since 1996 the rate of absconds has reduced by half.
	Data showing the number of prisoners who have absconded from open or semi-open prisons between January 2007 and February 2008 broken down by  (a) prison and  (b) offence for which they are convicted is shown in the following tables.
	Currently abscond levels are the lowest since centralised recording of figures began in 1995.
	
		
			  Offence  Askham Grange  Ford  Grendon  Hatfield  Hewell Grange  Hollesley Bay  Kirkham  Leyhill  Lindholme 
			 Affray — 1 — 1 — — 1 1 — 
			 Burglary 1 13 11 14 6 4 30 16 — 
			 Arson — — — — — — — — — 
			 Assault — 1 1 1 — — 2 — — 
			 Assisting illegal immigrants — — — — — — 1 — — 
			 Attempt to commit theft — — — — — — — 1 — 
			 Attempt to pervert the course of justice — — — 1 — — — — — 
			 Attempted murder — — — — — — — 1 — 
			 Murder — 1 — — — — — 1 — 
			 Robbery 4 5 4 3 4 7 12 9 1 
			 Breach — 4 — — 1 1 2 2  
			 Conspiracy to commit theft —  — — — — — — — 
			 Drugs 2 7 2 8 1 — 10 8 — 
			 Criminal damage — — — — — — — — — 
			 Customs evasion (not drugs related) — — — — — — — — — 
			 Driving — 4 — 1 3 4 3 3 — 
			 Deception — 2 — — — — 1 1 — 
			 Fail to surrender — — — — — — — 1 — 
			 False imprisonment — — — — — — — — — 
			 False instruments — — — — — 1 — — — 
			 Fraud — — — — — — — — — 
			 Handling stolen goods — — 1 1 — 1 — 1 — 
			 Holding warrant 1 — — 1 — — — — — 
			 Illegal immigrant/detainee — 1 — — — — — — — 
			 Import/export/drug — 1 1 — — — — 1 — 
			 Inflict grievous bodily harm — — — 1   1 3  
			 Kidnapping — — — — 1 — — — — 
			 Make off without paying — — — — — — — — — 
			 Manslaughter — 1 — — — — — — — 
			 Other criminal offences — 1 — — — — — — — 
			 Other violence offences —  — — — — — — — 
			 Possession of an offensive weapon — 1 — 1 — — — — — 
			 Possession of firearm with intent. Endanger life — — — — — — — — — 
			 Rape — — — — — — — 1 — 
			 Receiving stolen goods — — — — — — — — — 
			 Sec 40 convictions during original sentence — — — — 1 — — — — 
			 Taking and driving away — 1 1 — — — 2 — — 
			 Theft — 6 1 — — 1 9 6 — 
			 Threatening/disorderly behaviour — — — — — — — — — 
			 Trespass — 1 — — — — — — — 
			 Wounding — 2 — — — 1 4 3 — 
			 Not recorded 1 2 1 — — — 2 1 — 
			 Grand total 9 55 23 33 17 20 80 60 1 
		
	
	
		
			  Offence  North Sea Camp  Norwich  Standford Hill  Stoke Heath  Sudbury  Thorn Cross  Usk  Wealstun  Grand total 
			 Affray — — 1 — — — — — 5 
			 Burglary 19 — 18 — 17 29 1 12 191 
			 Arson 1 — — — 1  1 1 4 
			 Assault 2 — 1 — 1 5  1 15 
			 Assisting illegal immigrants — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Attempt to commit theft — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Attempt to pervert the course of justice — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Attempted murder — — 1 — 1 — — — 3 
			 Murder 1 — — — 4 — — — 7 
			 Robbery 4 — 7 — 17 19 3 5 104 
			 Breach 6 — 1 — — 3 — 1 21 
			 Conspiracy to commit theft — — — — 1 — — — 1 
			 Drugs 4 — 6 — 4 10 — 8 70 
			 Criminal damage 1 — — — — — — — 1 
			 Customs evasion (not drugs related) 1 — — — — — — — 1 
			 Driving 3 — 2 — 2 — 1 2 28 
			 Deception 1 — — — — — — — 5 
			 Fail to surrender — — — — — — — — 1 
			 False imprisonment — — 2 — — — — — 2 
			 False instruments — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Fraud — — 1 — — — — — 1 
			 Handling stolen goods 1 — 2 — — — — — 7 
			 Holding warrant — — 1 — 1 — — — 4 
			 Illegal immigrant/detainee — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Import/export/drug — — — — — — — — 3 
			 Inflict grievous bodily harm 1 — — — 1 — — 2 9 
			 Kidnapping — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Make off without paying 1 — — — — — — — 1 
			 Manslaughter — — — — — 1 — — 2 
			 Other criminal offences — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Other violence offences — — — — — 1 — — 1 
			 Possession of an offensive weapon — — — — 1 — — — 3 
			 Possession of firearm with intent. Endanger life 1 — — — 1 — — 1 3 
			 Rape 1 — — — — — — — 2 
			 Receiving stolen goods — — 1 — 1 — — — 2 
			 Sec 40 convictions during original sentence 2 — 1 — 1 — — 1 6 
			 Taking and driving away 1 — — — 1 5 — 2 13 
			 Theft 3 — 6 — 2 1 — 1 36 
			 Threatening/disorderly behaviour — — — — — 1 — — 1 
			 Trespass — — — — — — — — 1 
			 Wounding — 1 1 — 2 7 — 1 22 
			 Not recorded — — 1 1 — 3 3 1 16 
			 Grand total 54 1 53 1 59 85 9 39 599

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Rutherford Appleton Laboratory: Finance

Eric Martlew: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what he plans to spend on the operation of the Diamond facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in each of the next three financial years.

Ian Pearson: The Science and Technology Facilities Council, (STFC) plans to spend £26.997 million on Diamond operations in 2008/09. The planned spend for the following two financial years is to be discussed and agreed between STFC and Diamond Light Source.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Stop and Search

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many stop and searches were carried out by police under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in each year since the Act's introduction; and how many and what percentage of those searches resulted in arrest.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 13 November 2007
	 Information on stop and searches and resultant arrests under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 from 2001-02 to 2004-05 (latest available) is given in the following table.
	For 2005-06 data I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the right hon. Member for Haltemprice and Howden (David Davis) on 10 March 2008,  Official Report, column 78W.
	
		
			  Searches of vehicles( 1)  and occupants, and pedestrians under section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000( 2)  and resultant arrests( 3) , England and Wales, 2001-02 to 2004-05 
			   Stop and searches in order to prevent acts of terrorism 
			   Total searches  Resultant arrests( 3)  Percentage of arrests 
			 2001-02 10,200 189 2 
			 2002-03 32,100 380 1 
			 2003-04 33,800 491 1 
			 2004-05 35,800 455 1 
			 (1) Searches may be conducted on vehicles only, occupants only or both may be searched. Where a vehicle and driver occupier are searched simultaneously the search is recorded against the driver (occupant). Any other passengers searched are recorded as occupants. (2) The Terrorism Act 2000 came into force on 19 February 2001. (3) Includes arrests under the Terrorism Act, arrests for terrorist related matters and other serious crimes.  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police officers. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Terrorism

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of those arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences since 11 September 2001 have at some point claimed asylum.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 26 November 2007
	The information requested can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Children: Poverty

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps the Government have taken to move children out of poverty since 1997.

Beverley Hughes: The Government have set an ambitious target to halve child poverty, from a 1998-99 baseline by 2010, and to eradicate it by 2020. Since 1998-99, Government have halted the rising trend and 600,000 children have been lifted out of relative low-income.
	Work, for those who can, remains the best route out of poverty and the Government are committed to supporting families to find work, to stay in work and to progress so that they can build a sustainable future for themselves and their families. Since 1997 the lone parent employment rate has increased by 12.5 percentage points to 57.2 per cent. and employment levels overall are at the highest level ever recorded.
	Since 1997 the Government have also radically reformed the system of financial support for families. As a result of the Government's reforms to the tax and benefit system in Budget 2008, from April 2010, in real terms:
	households with children will be, on average, £2,000 better off;
	households with children in the poorest fifth of the population will be on average £4,500 better off as a result of measures introduced since 1997. (The full list for households with children in the poorest fifth since 1997 is: England £4,500, Wales £4,000, Scotland £4,100, NI £4,800, UK £4,500).
	Budget 2008 announced measures that will make significant further progress towards the target of halving child poverty by 2010 by:
	increasing the first child rate of child benefit to £20 a week from 2009;
	disregarding child benefit in calculating income for housing and council tax benefit from October 2009;
	increasing the child element of the child tax credit by £50 a year above indexation from April 2009 to further help low to middle income families.
	Through these measures the Government are investing an additional £950 million in tackling child poverty by 2010-11, lifting up to 250,000 additional children out of poverty by 2010-11. Including the reforms announced in Budget 2007 and the 2007 pre-Budget report and comprehensive spending review, measures announced in the last year will lift over 500,000 children out of poverty.
	We are also committed to improving public services to ensure that children receive the best start in life. There are now 2,557 Sure Start children's centres in England, providing services to more than two million children and their families and over 9,500 schools (one in three of total) are now providing core extended services, including: child care, study support, parenting support, family learning, access to wide range of specialised support for pupils; and opening up facilities to the community.
	We will continue to build on this. Compared to 2007-08, by 2010-11, the Government will be investing an additional £2 billion a year in public services to alleviate child poverty and break cycles of deprivation, including spending on child care, schooling in deprived areas, educational attainment, health inequalities, emotional well being, disabled children and school transport.
	In March 2008 'Ending child poverty: everybody's business' was published. The report builds on the considerable evidence base and analysis of child poverty and considers: the causes and consequences of child poverty; costs associated with childhood experiences of poverty, for both individuals and society; the impact of Government action so far; and policy direction for the future.
	In addition to the tax credit and benefit measures announced in this year's Budget the document announces £125 million in innovative pilots over the next three years. This represents a real investment in approaches that might make a substantial contribution to eradicating child poverty. The Government will use the results of these pilots to inform future action.

Education: Business

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what steps he plans to take to encourage businesses to assist in the education of children.

Jim Knight: The Secretary of State recognises the significant contribution that business can make to young peoples' achievements and aspirations and encourages schools and colleges to build meaningful partnerships with employers in a wide range of areas.
	The National Council for Educational Excellence is considering how businesses can contribute more to achieving educational excellence and will report to the Prime Minister in the summer.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Departmental Official Hospitality

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much was spent by his Department and its agencies on  (a) alcohol and  (b) entertaining in the last 12 month period for which information is available.

Gareth Thomas: My Department has spent approximately £1 million on entertainment during the last 12 month period. It is not possible to separate the spend relating to alcohol from this overall figure. This spend was through its contracted service provider.
	This figure also includes hospitality booked by external bodies including other Government Departments using our conference facilities. It is not possible to separate this spend from that of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Metals: Exports

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the value of scrap metal exports was in each of the last three years; and what the main destinations of those experts were over that period.

Gareth Thomas: The following figures taken from HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics give the value of UK exports of waste and scrap (largely of ferrous metal, copper, aluminium, precious metal, nickel and tin) to selected countries.
	
		
			  £ million 
			   2005  2006  2007 
			 World total 1,631 2,335 2,691 
			 Belgium 84 140 161 
			 France 80 118 144 
			 Germany 116 231 238 
			 Spain 260 287 305 
			 Rest of European Union 150 281 334 
			 China 223 417 452 
			 India 219 121 154 
			 Turkey 84 245 227 
			 United States 108 130 95 
			 Rest of World 308 366 580

Storage: Hazardous Substances

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps his Department has taken to ensure the security of chemical storage facilities in areas of high population density against terrorist attack.

Tony McNulty: I have been asked to reply.
	The Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) Regulations 1999 place a statutory responsibility on establishments holding significant amounts of specified dangerous substances to take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences. In addition, the Health and Safety Executive advises local authorities on applications for development around such sites in order to limit the growth of population that could be affected by a major incident.
	In addition, specific chemical storage sites receive protective security advice and training from police Counter Terrorism Security Advisers and the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI). In addition, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced on 14 November 2007,  Official Report, column 667 a review of the protective security arrangements in place around hazardous substances. This review is being led by my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Security and Counter-Terrorism (Lord West) and is currently under way.

Wines: Sales

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment the Government have made of the health effects of restricting the sale of UK-produced lower alcohol wines; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: I have been asked to reply.
	The recent change in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) methodology for estimating alcohol consumption ("Estimating alcohol consumption from survey data: improved method of converting volumes to units, ONS, November 2007") has highlighted how gradual increases in alcohol levels of wine over a period of years have contributed to increased alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom.
	The Department will launch a campaign in May 2008 to help consumers estimate their alcohol consumption in units and to understand why this matters for their own health.
	The Government believe that industry can also play an important part in helping to moderate rising alcohol levels by providing a wider range of choices for consumers. We will continue to press the European Commission to allow European Union (EU) winemakers to have greater flexibility to produce low alcohol wine, which is prevented by current EU rules. We would wish to encourage this as a socially responsible industry action in support of the National Alcohol Strategy.

Written Questions

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform when he expects to answer question 178201, tabled by the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South on 8 January 2008, on fuel poverty.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 13 March 2008,  Official Report, column 573W.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Ipsos MORI

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what payments his Department has made to Ipsos MORI in the last 24 months; and for what purposes.

Gerry Sutcliffe: According to our records, we have made one payment to Ipsos MORI in the last 24 months of £91,000 (excl. VAT) for a survey on 'the experience of smaller establishments in applying for live music authorisation'.

Museums and Galleries: Fees and Charges

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if his Department will subsidise the entry fee to cultural institutions for children from low income households to ensure that every child experiences five hours of culture a week.

Andy Burnham: On 13 February 2008 we announced a £25 million Find Your Talent programme of 10 pilots that will trial ways of delivering a structured five hour cultural offer.
	This programme, which will help inform our plans for a national roll out of the offer, builds on the Government's already considerable investment into these areas. This includes the support we give to enable free entry to National Museums, the Creative Partnerships programme which will receive over £110 million over the next three years, and the recently announced £332 million programme to support school music.
	We have published a prospectus seeking applications from partnerships in local areas around the country and each partnership can apply for up to £2.5 million over three years. While we would expect the majority of money to be spent directly on new activity for young people it can also be used for skills assessments, training and CPD to those implementing delivery, or subsidising entry fees to local cultural institutions.

Playing Fields

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 11 March 2008,  Official Report, column 7WS, on playing field statistics, which 40 applications led to a detrimental impact on sport, broken down by local authority.

Gerry Sutcliffe: 97 per cent. (1,176) of 1,216 concluded planning applications affecting playing fields in 2005-06 resulted in improved or protected sports provision. The 40 (3 per cent.) approved planning applications in 2005-06 that were considered by Sport England to be a detriment to sport are listed in the table. None of the 40 cases resulted in the complete loss of a playing field, the detrimental impact on sport included issues such as loss of space around the margins of a field, temporary loss of school playing field space during rebuilding works, or the creation of a new sporting facility which did not meet all of Sport England's design standards. Sport England maintained an objection to each of these 40 applications that was overruled by the local authority.
	
		
			  Site name  Local authority 
			 Land West of Gardiners Lane South Basildon 
			 Kings Norton Boys School Birmingham 
			 Automotive Lighting Factory (former) and Cannock Ind Centre (x 3 planning applications) Cannock Chase 
			 Liskeard and Looe Rugby Club Caradon 
			 Neigbourhood Nursery (Beacon Junior and Infants School) Carrick 
			 Playing Field Cheltenham 
			 Durham City Football Club Durham 
			 Former Itec Site Easington 
			 Pebsham CP School Hastings 
			 Walpole Highway Primary School King's Lynn and West Norfolk 
			 Clifton Nursery School Kingston upon Hull 
			 Dryclough C E (C) Infant School (x 2 applications) Kirklees 
			 Mile Oak Community Centre Lichfield 
			 Romans Field School Milton Keynes 
			 Wolverton Park Sports Ground Milton Keynes 
			 Ashcombe Primary School North Somerset 
			 Gordano School North Somerset 
			 Site of Nuneaton Rugby Club/AFC Nuneaton and Bedworth 
			 Former Old Manor Hospital Salisbury 
			 Gay Meadow Shrewsbury and Atcham 
			 Long Stratton High School South Norfolk 
			 Wincanton Sports Ground South Somerset 
			 St. Dominies School South Staffordshire 
			 Parkside Primary School Stafford 
			 Croft School Stratford-on-Avon 
			 Stratford Town Football Club Stratford-on-Avon 
			 Earl Soham Primary School Suffolk Coastal 
			 Land at Pipers Way Swindon 
			 Wilnecote Sports Centre Tamworth 
			 Former Willenhall Radiator Grounds Walsall 
			 Leighswood School Walsall 
			 Play Area Rear of High Terrace Wear Valley 
			 Lowbourne Junior School West Wiltshire 
			 Goodyear Site Wolverhampton 
			 Wilden All Saints First School Wyre Forest 
			 St. Johns C of E First School Wyre Forest 
			 Stourport High School Wyre Forest

TRANSPORT

A264: Accidents

Greg Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) fatal and  (b) non-fatal accidents occurred on the A264 between Stone Cross and Blackham in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of reported personal injury road accidents which occurred on the A264 between Stone Cross and Blackham in 1997 to 2007 are given in the table:
	
		
			  Number of accidents 
			  Year of accident  Fatal  Serious  Slight  Total 
			 1997 0 1 7 8 
			 1998 0 3 4 7 
			 1999 0 2 6 8 
			 2000 0 1 5 6 
			 2001 0 0 3 3 
			 2002 0 l 7 8 
			 2003 0 1 4 5 
			 2004 0 2 0 2 
			 2005 0 1 0 1 
			 2006 0 0 2 2

A4: Heathrow Airport

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport where she plans the A4 to run in relation to Heathrow airport in proposals in the 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation; and what assessment she has made of the security implications of the location of the road.

Jim Fitzpatrick: It is expected that the routing of the A4 would be largely unaffected by the proposals in the 'Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport' consultation document. It is, however, expected that sections of the road would pass in tunnels underneath aeroplane taxiways between the existing airport campus and the new runway. If proposals are taken forward, further work would need to be carried out as part of a comprehensive transport assessment prior to the airport operator submitting any planning application: this would include any security implications of the location of the A4. This would be done in consultation with the Highways Agency, TfL—Transport for London—and local authorities.

Aviation: Security

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assurances she has obtained from foreign Governments whose airlines utilise armed air marshals on the co-operation by such marshals with UK police officers on aircraft on British soil.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport has not sought assurances from foreign Governments regarding cooperation by foreign air marshals with UK police officers. Policing at UK airports is a matter for the respective police forces and the Home Office.

Biofuels: Imports

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what percentage of biodiesel used in the UK was imported from the US in 2006-07;
	(2)  what steps are taken to determine whether biodiesel imported from the US has been produced sustainably; and what certification requirements apply to such imports.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Government do not presently hold precise data on the provenance of the biofuels used in the UK. We will have more accurate data once the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) comes into effect in April. Under the RTFO, transport fuel suppliers who wish to earn Renewable Transport Fuel certificates in respect of their biofuels will have to report to the Renewable Fuels Agency (RFA) on matters such as the country of origin and wider sustainability of those fuels. Further detail on the reporting requirements is available via the RFA's website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/rfa
	We are aware that during 2006 and 2007 a significant proportion of the biodiesel sold in the UK was imported from the US. There are currently no sustainability or certification requirements on these or other imports of biofuel into the European Union, and the UK Government do not have the power unilaterally to impose any such restrictions. We have expressed our concerns on this issue to the European Commission at the highest level and are supporting their efforts to press for legislative changes in the US. Once the RTFO is in force, transport fuel suppliers importing biodiesel from the US will be subject to the same sustainability reporting requirements as outlined above.

Departmental Data Protection

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what her policy is on shredding in her Department and its agencies.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The policy on shredding in the Department for Transport is based on guidance from the Cabinet Office's Manual of Protective Security. This requires material to be shredded using equipment of an approved standard, commensurate with the material's level of protective marking.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Publications

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many members of staff were involved in the publishing of DVL Today in each year since it was first published.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Since November 2003 (edition 25) the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has not had any members of staff working full-time on the external publication DVL Today. Instead, the work is distributed between several members of staff. The estimated number of working hours per edition is shown as follows.
	
		
			   Estimated number of working hours 
			 Editor 74 
			 Three print unit staff 76 
			 Two design staff 26 
			 Total 176 
			 (1) Hours altogether.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Publications

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the annual cost of the publication DVL Today was in each year since it was first published.

Jim Fitzpatrick: DVL Today is published twice a year in April and October; the first edition was produced in 1991. Since November 2003 the publication has been produced in-house. The annual in-house cost of publishing both editions for each calendar year since 2003 is around £6,500. Prior to 2003 the magazine was produced by external publishing companies, unfortunately this pre-dates our current accounting system and to access the data from our previous accounts system would incur disproportionate cost.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Publications

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the estimated readership is of DVL Today.

Jim Fitzpatrick: We issue approximately 19,000 copies of each issue of DVL Today to our customers (we have 22,000 of each edition printed). The publication is also available on Driver and Vehicles Licensing Agency's corporate website for reading/download by customers. DVL Today is published twice a year.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Publications

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many copies of DVL Today were printed in each year since it was first published; and how many copies were posted to readers in each year.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Since November 2003 (edition 25) we have had 22,000 copies of Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency's external publications DVL Today printed. Of these, approximately 19,000 of each edition are posted to readers. DVL Today is published twice a year.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Publications

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the cost of posting DVL Today to readers was in each year since it was first published.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) produce approximately 44,000 copies of DVL Today per annum; approximately 36,000 of these are distributed outside DVLA central to Automated First Registration and Licensing dealers, our Local Office Network and other motoring organisations. Distribution costs (mainly postage) for DVL Today for the calendar year 2007 were £5,114.

Emergency Services: Accidents

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 31 January 2008,  Official Report, column 538W, on emergency services: accidents, how many accidents occurred involving blue light vehicles from the  (a) police force,  (b) fire service and  (c) ambulance service in each of the last five years; and how many (i) deaths and (ii) serious injuries resulted from accidents in each such category, broken down by region.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The numbers of reported personal injury road accidents involving vehicles from  (a) the police force,  (b) the fire service and  (c) the ambulance service and the number of resulting fatalities and seriously injured casualties in each region for each of the last five years are shown in the tables:
	
		
			  (a) Police 
			   Number of accidents 
			  Government Office Regions  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 North East 133 129 123 119 118 
			 North West 352 291 333 362 351 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 351 311 320 274 259 
			 East Midlands 171 165 157 122 109 
			 West Midlands 219 232 238 198 218 
			 East of England 195 189 198 162 160 
			 South East 299 290 245 243 258 
			 London 110 74 70 19 32 
			 South West 171 149 157 165 161 
			 Wales 88 88 95 82 91 
			 Scotland 95 107 90 71 70 
			 Great Britain 2,184 2,025 2,026 1,817 1,827 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Fire service 
			   Number of accidents 
			  Government Office Regions  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 North East 9 4 11 3 4 
			 North West 20 25 17 17 9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 20 11 7 7 6 
			 East Midlands 4 7 9 4 5 
			 West Midlands 7 15 14 3 1.2 
			 East of England 10 6 10 13 9 
			 South East 8 15 18 15 11 
			 London 12 16 11 7 17 
			 South West 9 10 9 10 7 
			 Wales 3 6 5 3 4 
			 Scotland 8 10 7 9 7 
			 Great Britain 110 125 118 91 91 
		
	
	
		
			  (c) Ambulance service 
			   Number of accidents 
			  Government Office Regions  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 North East 8 7 11 10 18 
			 North West 46 44 35 36 24 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 40 37 30 33 25 
			 East Midlands 20 25 26 24 23 
			 West Midlands 28 36 31 20 23 
			 East of England 34 26 22 16 21 
			 South East 37 49 30 45 44 
			 London 42 47 47 34 31 
			 South West 19 38 31 26 27 
			 Wales 20 29 14 20 19 
			 Scotland 14 15 15 20 19 
			 Great Britain 308 353 292 284 274 
		
	
	
		
			  (a) Police 
			   Number of casualties 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  Government Office Regions  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious 
			 North East 2 10 1 16 3 20 0 19 2 13 
			 North West 7 57 9 26 3 58 7 47 11 55 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 1 54 0 29 3 47 2 46. 6 33 
			 East Midlands 8 26 3 23 6 23 0 13 1 26 
			 West Midlands 1 28 3 29 3 35 2 23 3 25 
			 East of England 5 33 4 28 3 19 3 20 1 23 
			 South East 2 53 4 41 5 35 7 31 4 30 
			 London 1 21 0 4 1 15 0 0 0 6* 
			 South West 3 26 1 15 2 25 2 13 1 18 
			 Wales 4 10 1 9 1 4 1 7 0 8 
			 Scotland 0 15 1 25 1 12 2 3 1 7 
			 Great Britain 34 333 27 245 31 293 26 222 30 244 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Fire service 
			   Number of casualties 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  Government Office Regions  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious 
			 North East 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 2 
			 North West 0 0 1 0 1 3 0 2 0 1 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 3 1 7 2 2 0 1 0 0 
			 East Midlands 0 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 West Midlands 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 
			 East of England 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 2 0 1 
			 South East 0 2 0 1 0 6 0 2 0 4 
			 London 0 0 0 8 0 2 0 2 0 7 
			 South West 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Wales 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 Scotland 0 0 0 3 0 2 1 3 0 0 
			 Great Britain 0 9 4 24 4 18 2 13 0 18 
		
	
	
		
			  (c) Ambulance service 
			   Number of casualties 
			   2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  Government Office Regions  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious  Fatal  Serious 
			 North East 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 
			 North West 0 3 0 4 0 3 0 0 0 5 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 9 0 5 0 8 0 10 0 3 
			 East Midlands 0 4 2 3 3 4 0 2 0 5 
			 West Midlands 0 4 0 4 0 1 0 3 0 0 
			 East of England 1 5 1 3 1 5 2 3 1 6 
			 South East 1 11 2 5 0 1 1 3 1 6 
			 London 1 8 3 17 0 11 0 4 1 10 
			 South West 2 4 2 5 0 4 0 1 1 2 
			 Wales 0 3 1 1 0 1 1 2 0 3 
			 Scotland 0 1 0 6 0 5 1 4 1 2 
			 Great Britain 5 52 11 54 4 43 5 32 5 43

Heathrow Airport

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether she has received representations from BAA plc regarding a fourth runway and seventh terminal at Heathrow Airport.

Jim Fitzpatrick: No representations have been received.

Heathrow Airport: Planning Permission

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether she plans to make permission to build a third runway or sixth terminal at Heathrow airport contingent on a limit on further expansion;
	(2)  whether she plans to make permission to build a third runway or sixth terminal at Heathrow Airport subject to a cap on the maximum number of flight movements at the airport.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The recent consultation "Adding Capacity at Heathrow Airport", which closed on 27 February, was about the Government's policy towards expansion at the airport. No decision will be made until we have analysed the many thousands of responses we have received. It would not be appropriate to speculate on the outcome of that process. In addition, the decision would in any event be subject to obtaining the necessary planning and other statutory consents.

Inland Waterways

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate she has made of the levels of traffic on major rivers and other inland waterways between 1997 and 2000.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  UK inland waters traffic, 1997 to 2000 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000 
			  Goods lifted (million tonnes) 
			 Total 58.5 57.3 53.8 49.0 
			  Of which: 
			 Non-seagoing 4.8 4.3 4.3 4.3 
			 Seagoing 53.7 53.0 49.5 44.7 
			  Goods moved (million tonne-kilometres) 
			 Total 1.9 2.0 1.9 1.7 
			  Of which: 
			 Non-seagoing 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 
			 Seagoing 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.5 
			  Source: Department for Transport Statistics Bulletin: "Waterborne Freight in the United Kingdom 2006"

Members: Correspondence

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when she will answer Question 177350, tabled by the hon. Member for Portsmouth South on 9 January 2008, on the Portsmouth to Cardiff rail service.

Tom Harris: I replied to the hon. Member on 12 March 2008,  Official Report, column 444W.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2008,  Official Report, column 885W, on motor vehicles: excise duties, if she will provide equivalent information for each year since 1996.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of vehicles wrongly impounded is available for the last two financial years only. The information available was provided in my answer of 21 February 2008,  Official Report, column 885W.

Parking Offences: Unpaid Fines

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the effect on the revenue to local authorities of the non-payment of parking fines in respect of vehicles where their legal keepers by virtue of their registration are  (a) non-EEA—European economic area—nationals and  (b) nationals of other European Union member states; if she will bring forward proposals to address the effects on revenue; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not held centrally. The enforcement of decriminalised traffic contraventions is a matter for the relevant local authorities, They are not required to provide such information to the Government.
	Enforcement of penalty charges issued to keepers of foreign registered vehicles is a Europe wide challenge that needs a Europe wide solution. The Government are awaiting an expected draft directive from the European Commission on cross border enforcement, which will include road traffic matters.
	Provisions are also included in the Local Transport Bill currently progressing through Parliament which will enable the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to request information from foreign registration authorities on behalf of UK authorities who wish to pursue unpaid penalties incurred by motorists in foreign registered vehicles.

Passenger Ships

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment she has made of the environmental impact of cruise ships operating from UK ports; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: No specific assessment of the environmental impact of cruise vessels has been undertaken. Cruise vessels are treated as any other vessel for the purposes of UK and international legislation and are required to comply with the relevant international standards.

Ports: Waste Management

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much revenue was raised by setting a mandatory charge for port waste reception facilities irrespective of use for entering a UK harbour in each year since 2003; and how much the scheme cost in each year.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Charges for use of port waste reception facilities are set by the port or terminal in question and established on a commercial basis to cover the cost of the provision of waste reception facilities. The Government do not record the costs of administering such schemes or the money collected through them.
	In approving port reception facility plans the Maritime and Coastguard Agency considers the calculation of the charge to ensure it is proportionate to the cost of providing waste reception facilities.

Ports: Waste Management

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many ship operators were convicted following steps taken by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as a result of non-compliance with the Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations 2003 in each of the last five years, broken down by the port, harbour or terminal authority where the non-compliance occurred; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: No ship operators have been convicted by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in the last five years under the Port Waste Reception Facilities Regulations 2003.

Roads: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 21 February 2008,  Official Report, column 886W, on roads: accidents, if she will provide this information for every parliamentary constituency.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Tables showing the numbers of reported personal injury road accidents, the number involving drivers under the age of 21, and the resulting fatalities in each parliamentary constituency in 1997 to 2006 have been deposited in the Libraries of the House.

Roads: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 20 February 2008,  Official Report, column 737W, on roads: accidents, if she will provide the equivalent figure for each parliamentary constituency.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Tables showing the numbers of  (a) deaths and  (b) injuries resulting from personal injury road accidents in each parliamentary constituency by age of casualty have been deposited in the Libraries of the House.

Roads: Accidents

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many road traffic accidents occurred in  (a) Morecambe and Lunesdale constituency and  (b) Lancashire in 2007.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The information requested is not available. Statistics on reported personal injury road accidents in 2007 are due to be published in June 2008.

Rolling Stock

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new train carriages  (a) entered and  (b) were removed from service in each year since 2004; and how many are expected to (i) enter and (ii) be removed from service in (A) 2008, (B) 2009, (C) 2010 and (D) 2011.

Tom Harris: holding answer 29 February 2008
	The number of vehicles which have entered service since 2004 are as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004 1,360 
			 2005 710 
			 2006 210 
			 2007 15 
		
	
	We do not hold the numbers which were removed from service as this number constantly changes depending on the commercial deals made by the Train Operating Companies (TOCs). However, I would point out that there is very little useable stock available and the Department's High Level Output Specification (HLOS) is about growing capacity of the network. The numbers which are expected to enter service will depend on the vehicle delivery profile which is agreed with the manufacturer at contract signature.

Transport: Pollution Control

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies' green transport plans were introduced; and if she will place a copy of these plans in the Library.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department for Transport's Travel Plan was published on its website on 28 November 2006. A copy has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Antisocial Behaviour

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what the timetable for the implementation of  (a) community call to action and  (b) councillor call to action is;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to extend the community call to action to all local authority services.

Parmjit Dhanda: "Strong and prosperous communities—The Local Government White Paper Implementation Plan: One Year On", published in November 2007, states that Councillor Call for Action will be implemented during 2008.
	On 27 December 2007 Communities and Local Government published the "Local Petitions and Calls for Action Consultation", which seeks views on the implementation of the Councillor Call for Action. Paragraph 19 of the consultation document proposes a duty on local authorities to respond to local petitions where the subject of the petition relates to the functions of the local authority, or other public services with shared delivery responsibilities with the local authority. Paragraph 43 of the document states that the Government believe their proposed duty on local authorities to respond to qualifying petitions would amount to a community call for action, but seek views on whether other steps should be taken. The consultation will close on 20 March.

Audits

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what requirements her Department and its agencies place on contractors in relation to audit of personal data and IT equipment.

Parmjit Dhanda: There is no centrally held information on requirements that are placed on contractors in this regard. Individual contracts will impose particular requirements on contractors in relation to audit of personal data and IT equipment but terms and conditions vary between contracts, and there is no standard condition which runs across all contracts.

Bellwin Scheme

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the value of applications made to her Department and its predecessors by local authorities under the Bellwin scheme was in each year since 1997.

John Healey: Since 1997, the Bellwin scheme has paid out the following amounts (to the nearest £1,000):
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 1997-98 170,000 
			 1998-99 440,000 
			 1999-2000 350,000 
			 2000-01 4,100,000 
			 2001-02 25,800,000 
			 2002-03 184,000 
			 2003-04 0 
			 2004-05 1,900,000 
			 2005-06 1,940,000 
			 2006-07 55,000 
			 2007-08 (1)16,026,000 
			 (1) To date. 
		
	
	The Department does not hold comprehensive historical records of all applications, not all of which will have resulted in the activation of the scheme.

Bellwin Scheme

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much  (a) has been paid and  (b) is outstanding for payment to local authorities in respect of claims under the Bellwin scheme in 2007.

John Healey: To date, £16,025,831 has been paid to local authorities under the Bellwin scheme in 2007-08. Around £6 million of claims are being assessed.

Community Relations: Democracy

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the publication of a White Paper on democracy and community engagement; and if she will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government announced, on 5 March, proposals to prepare a White Paper on plans to unlock talent in local communities and give people a real say on improving local services and promoting active citizenship. We will be developing a range of proposals over the coming months, and plan to publish the White Paper in the summer. We want a wide range of people to contribute to the thinking that goes into the White Paper, including practitioners and community activists, local government, trade unions and people in the public services.

Council Tax: Second Homes

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what constraints there are on local authorities on how they use the revenue from council tax levied on second homes.

John Healey: There are no constraints on how a local authority uses council tax revenue other than the need to satisfy itself that it is operating within the powers conferred on it by Parliament.

Councillors: Pay

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has to introduce a national pay system for local government councillors.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Secretary of State will be publishing the Government's response to the Councillors Commission report, (which included a recommendation on a National Framework of Allowances for councillors), later in the spring, following consultation with other Government Departments and key partners.

Departmental Carbon Emissions

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she has taken to reduce her Department's carbon dioxide emissions in the next financial year.

Parmjit Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 18 February 2008,  Official Report, column 11W.

Departmental Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost was of overnight accommodation for  (a) civil servants,  (b) special advisers and  (c) Ministers in her Department staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in the last 12 months.

Parmjit Dhanda: The breakdown of information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	However, the following table sets out the overall UK and overseas accommodation expenditure incurred by Communities and Local Government (for civil servants and Ministers) in the last 12 months.
	
		
			  1 March 2007 to 29 February 2008  £ 
			 UK accommodation costs 748,937 
			 Overseas accommodation costs 89,920 
		
	
	All travel by civil servants and Ministers is conducted in accordance with requirements of the Civil Service Management Code and the Ministerial Code.

Departmental Plants

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much her Department spent on pot plants in each of the last five years.

Parmjit Dhanda: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 3 September 2007,  Official Report, column 1644W. Since then the Department has purchased additional new plants at a cost of £845.00, during the period 1 July 2007 to 29 February 2008.

Departmental Property

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many residential properties her Department owns; how many of these are vacant; and how many of these have been vacant for longer than  (a) three,  (b) six and  (c) 12 months.

Parmjit Dhanda: Communities and Local Government owns 39 residential houses at the Fire Service College, one of our executive agencies. Five are currently vacant. Of these, one has been vacant for less than three months, three houses have been vacant for between six and 12 months and one for longer than 12 months. Two of the vacant houses will be occupied by mid-April 2008.

Departmental Public Participation: Opinion Research

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what payments her Department has made to opinion research companies or consultants in the last 24 months, other than to Ipsos MORI; at what cost; and for what purposes.

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be supplied only at disproportionate cost.

Empty Property: Rates and Rating

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the costs of  (a) administration of and  (b) collection of revenue from empty property rates.

John Healey: The impact assessment accompanying the Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) (England) Regulations 2008 No. 386, which was laid before Parliament on the 26 February 2008 gives details and assessment of the net additional costs arising from the reform to empty property rates. It is anticipated that local government will face a one-off additional cost during 2007-08 totalling £1.66 million and the Government are in the process of preparing a funding package to ensure that cost is funded.

Fire Services

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many incidents on or near water were attended by the Fire Service in each year since 1994, broken down by  (a) brigade and  (b) region.

Parmjit Dhanda: holding answer 10 March 2008
	The information requested is not held centrally.

Fire Services: Consultants

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Hendon of 18 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1325-6W, on fire services: consultants, what the recent re-categorisation of costs referred to was.

Parmjit Dhanda: The re-categorisation of costs referred to was triggered by HM Treasury in November 2006. As well as setting in motion a detailed review of existing consultancy spend to ensure that it was correctly classified against programme and administration budgets, Departments were instructed to use the 2001 Office of Government Commerce (OGC) definition of consultancy and professional services. The OGC definition states that consultancy and professional services should not include staff substitution or interim management nor steady state contractor or service provision. The common definitions for consultancy and professional services work were implemented to move towards consistent treatment and monitoring of such expenditure across all Government Departments.

Grassland: Fires

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many grassland and heathland fires there were in each year since 1986, broken down by  (a) fire authority and  (b) region. [R]

Parmjit Dhanda: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The following table provides figures for 1995 to 2006.
	
		
			  Grassland and heathland fires by fire and rescue authority and Government Office region, England, 1995 to 2006 
			   1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			  England 133,495 77,037 47,881 28,494 45,201 38,579 48,753 47,940 110,460 41,071 50,789 65,608 
			  
			  North West 29,635 18,028 8,054 3,963 6,221 5,815 7,293 6,833 17,959 6,561 7,406 10,505 
			 Cheshire 3,272 2,157 990 521 772 763 1,310 1,138 2,346 920 990 1,656 
			 Cumbria 655 842 267 112 236 294 373 280 1,003 487 457 500 
			 Lancashire 3,433 2,600 936 390 557 735 974 1,551 3,264 1,385 1,343 1,567 
			 Greater Manchester 11,782 5,391 2,746 1,078 2,145 1,702 2,173 1,948 6,401 1,550 1,855 3,099 
			 Merseyside 10,493 7,038 3,115 1,862 2,511 2,321 2,463 1,916 4,945 2,219 2,761 3,683 
			  
			  North East 8,936 6,478 4,566 2,321 4,563 4,114 4,554 4,452 8,628 3,048 3,995 6,626 
			 Cleveland 1,665 1,258 743 424 764 862 993 1,194 1,979 755 1,169 1,701 
			 Durham 2,082 1,416 1,358 656 1,068 833 1,028 857 1,894 710 933 1,533 
			 Northumberland 863 555 408 163 397 466 413 393 961 313 331 481 
			 Tyne and Wear 4,326 3,249 2,057 1,078 2,334 1,953 2,120 2,008 3,794 1,270 1,562 2,911 
			  
			  Yorks and Humberside 20,450 8,713 4,709 3,308 5,690 4,173 5,982 5,818 12,886 3,885 5,672 7,098 
			 Humberside 2,344 1,912 1,002 741 947 111 836 1,062 2,277 736 928 1,135 
			 North Yorkshire 673 359 309 188 268 240 314 344 657 276 359 470 
			 South Yorkshire 7,837 3,433 1,794 1,518 2,317 1,755 2,307 2,508 5,006 1,396 2,111 2,551 
			 West Yorkshire 9,596 3,009 1,604 861 2,158 1,401 2,525 1,904 4,946 1,477 2,274 2,942 
			  
			  West Midlands 19,566 8,552 6,375 3,583 5,550 6,393 6,994 7,849 15,836 5,970 7,029 10,802 
			 Hereford and Worcester 1,416 812 582 293 421 455 478 601 1,212 510 521 803 
			 Shropshire 1,162 433 512 335 472 470 652 682 1,049 525 483 837 
			 Staffordshire 4,356 2,078 1,328 827 992 1,109 1,420 1,362 2,918 1,181 1,412 1,974 
			 Warwickshire 1,727 800 460 274 442 397 349 466 814 307 371 444 
			 West Midlands 10,905 4,429 3,493 1,854 3,223 3,962 4,095 4,738 9,843 3,447 4,242 6,744 
			  
			  East Midlands 12,316 6,244 3,606 2,917 4,522 3,441 4,479 5,218 11,035 4,114 5,063 5,982 
			 Derbyshire 2,544 1,342 666 436 732 640 705 758 1,604 565 1,035 1,002 
			 Leicestershire 2,355 1,209 624 573 774 712 778 860 2,055 624 701 769 
			 Lincolnshire 1,143 734 407 327 513 334 443 433 994 420 458 617 
			 Northamptonshire 1,414 613 390 283 302 263 476 507 1,225 439 510 681 
			 Nottinghamshire 4,860 2,346 1,519 1,298 2,201 1,492 2,077 2,660 5,157 2,066 2,359 2,913 
			  
			  East 8,571 6,835 4,908 3,197 3,910 3,281 3,851 4,285 10,269 3,697 4,825 6,222 
			 Bedfordshire 942 576 402 231 410 248 318 371 1,141 296 458 452 
			 Cambridgeshire 623 796 502 393 436 423 372 549 990 373 528 659 
			 Essex 3,790 3,026 2,036 1,429 1,659 1,384 1,687 1,586 3,834 1,584 2,216 2,517 
			 Hertfordshire 1,135 563 863 508 695 552 617 647 2,153 578 700 838 
			 Norfolk 1,111 966 527 333 400 365 463 629 1,137 449 443 1,015 
			 Suffolk 970 908 578 303 310 309 394 503 1,014 417 480 741 
			  
			  South West 8,831 4,754 3,191 1,959 2,770 2,897 3,949 3,321 6,777 3,373 4,000 4,565 
			 Avon 2,250 775 357 336 591 613 970 988 2,171 868 1,474 1,484 
			 Cornwall 1,212 822 505 205 334 352 389 346 624 388 421 610 
			 Devon 1,641 1,063 814 425 533 554 676 570 1,006 656 546 840 
			 Dorset 2,020 947 824 553 765 832 1,223 732 1,174 776 870 725 
			 Gloucestershire 632 419 221 175 193 211 199 223 700 229 322 360 
			 Somerset 539 340 254 139 174 156 217 221 506 238 167 285 
			 Wiltshire 530 375 214 125 177 174 267 231 589 208 197 253 
			 Isles of Scilly 7 13 2 1 3 5 8 10 7 10 3 8 
			  
			  South East 13,669 7,923 6,251 3,467 5,705 4,098 6,250 5,650 13,565 5,573 5,941 7,035 
			 Berkshire 2,087 1,027 774 432 538 461 631 657 1,550 614 698 824 
			 Buckinghamshire 1,179 496 469 195 388 237 279 303 819 269 262 335 
			 East Sussex 689 482 357 190 314 335 438 255 818 245 223 389 
			 Hampshire 4,048 1,914 1,591 923 1,536 1,224 2,179 1,792 4,059 1,792 1,646 2,255 
			 Isle of Wight 153 131 95 55 91 65 125 83 140 54 59 83 
			 Kent 2,373 1,758 1,298 899 1,401 735 1,094 1,096 2,861 1,029 1,455 1,431 
			 Oxfordshire 565 507 378 198 287 233 303 326 710 334 299 330 
			 Surrey 1,821 1,056 851 351 735 465 751 710 1,755 820 899 942 
			 West Sussex 754 552 438 224 415 343 450 428 853 416 400 446 
			  
			  London 11,521 9,510 6,221 3,779 6,270 4,367 5,401 4,514 13,505 4,850 6,858 6,773 
			  Note: Data for 2006 are provisional.

Holocaust Memorial Day

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent representations she has received about including commemoration of Raoul Wallenberg in Holocaust Memorial Day; and if she will make a statement.

Parmjit Dhanda: Communities and Local Government have received no representations to include commemoration of Raoul Wallenberg in Holocaust Memorial Day.

Liverpool City Council: Audit

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps her Department is taking following the recent Audit Commission corporate assessment report into Liverpool City Council.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department is working closely with colleagues and officials in the Local Government Association, IDeA—Improvement and Development Agency for local government—Audit Commission, Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership, Government Office for the North West (GONW), and the city council itself, to ensure that a package of support for Liverpool is available.
	To this end, an improvement board, with external membership including GONW, IDeA, and the Audit Commission, has been set up by the city council to provide continued support and challenge. Peer support from other local government authorities is also being developed.

Local Authorities: Collective Worship

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will issue guidance to local authorities on the saying of prayers at council meetings.

Parmjit Dhanda: The Department has no plans to issue guidance to local authorities on prayers at council meetings.

Local Authorities: Petitions

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps local authorities will be required to take in response to a petition with a specified number of signatures under her Department's proposals.

Parmjit Dhanda: On 27 December 2007 Communities and Local Government published the "Local Petitions and Calls for Action Consultation", which seeks views on a proposed duty on local authorities to respond to local petitions, and the number of signatures required to trigger a response. The consultation will close on 20 March.

Local Authorities: Standards

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers Oftenant will have to  (a) inspect local authorities and  (b) set and monitor performance indicators for local authorities.

Iain Wright: As announced on 15 October 2007, we have appointed an independently chaired advisory panel to give further advice on the technical work needed to bring local authority landlords within the regulator's scope.

Plastic Bags

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bromley of 4 February 2008,  Official Report, column 852W, on plastic bags, whether the two orders were for 300,000 bags in total or for 300,000 bags each for order.

Parmjit Dhanda: 300,000 bags were ordered in total.

Public Bodies: Internet

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the estimated cost is of  (a) establishing and  (b) maintaining the data interchange hub in each of the next three years.

Parmjit Dhanda: The data interchange hub project is being delivered in a phased manner, with the first production release due to go into service in April 2008. The phases beyond this have not been scoped in detail, and as a result estimated costs, if agreed, are not yet available. The current estimated cost up to 1 April 2008 is just under £690,000, including the costs of system development and testing, programme management, and communications with stakeholders. The annual maintenance costs are under negotiation, and the Department is efficiently and effectively re-using existing departmental systems and infrastructure to its benefit as regards both the development and maintenance costs of the system.

Standards Board for England: Complaints

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average cost was of the Standards Board for England processing and assessing a complaint in the most recent year for which figures are available.

John Healey: The average cost per case incurred by the Standards Board in undertaking the initial assessment to decide whether or not to refer a matter for investigation was £393 in 2006-07.
	The average cost per completed investigation, including the cost of that initial assessment, was £12,772 in 2006-07.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Drinking Water

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations he has made to other Government Departments on ceasing the use of bottled water and providing tap water instead; if he will publish the responses received; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The use of bottled water for meetings and other official business is to be phased out across the whole Government estate.
	On 6 March, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to the head of every Government Department suggesting they should replace bought-in bottled water with tap water for all meetings in future.
	A number of Departments including DEFRA have already stopped using bottled water for official meetings but the proposal is to extend the 'tap water only policy' throughout Government Departments.
	The new policy is expected to come into effect by the summer.

Enviros Consulting

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what payments have been made by  (a) his Department and  (b) WRAP—the Waste and Resources Action Programme—to Enviros Consulting in the last 36 months; and for what purpose in each case.

Joan Ruddock: The total value of payments made by DEFRA to Enviros Consulting since 1 April 2005 is £6,426,420.53. However, due to the number of payments made, further breakdown of each project's purpose could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The following table shows each of the projects Enviros has undertaken for the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) over the last three years.
	
		
			  Project/programme  Payment (£) 
			 Communications via Local Partners (BCLF) total 73,309.59 
			 Construction (General) total 772.89 
			 Evaluation total 56,900.00 
			 Executive total 2,544.25 
			 Local Authority Support total 27,335.50 
			 Local Authority Training total 278,742.52 
			 Local Communications Fund (BCLF) total 105,233.02 
			 Manufacturing Support (Wood) total 25,378.90 
			 Organics (Added Value) total 27,148.82 
			 Organics (Building Infrastructure) total 7,461.95 
			 Organics (Promoting Compost Use) total 38,048.08 
			 Organics total 172,582.90 
			 Plasterboard total 122,805.44 
			 Policy total 21,579.93 
			 Procurement total 106,515.68 
			 Recycle at work total 15,112.25 
			 Regional Development Agency Support total 28,899.96 
			 Regional Economic Development total 152,305.20 
			 ROTATE total 69,460.49 
			 Small Medium Enterprises total 133,290.39 
			 Manufacturing Support (Wood) total 31,663.90 
			 Total 1,497,091.66

Fisheries: EC Action

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department plans to consult on the European Fisheries Fund Operational Programme in March 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The consultation on the European Fisheries Fund UK Operational Programme was launched on 6 March. Copies of the draft Operational Programme are on the DEFRA website.

Fisheries: Inspections

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many joint inspections carried out with HM Revenue and Customs in relation to the enforcement of fishery protection there were in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many infringements were recorded as a result of fisheries inspections in each year since 1997; how many infringements  (a) were minor and required no follow-up action and  (b) required follow-up action; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  how many inspection reports in relation to fisheries were completed in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: This information is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Fisheries: Inspections

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the performance of inspections carried out in relation to the enforcement of fishery protection.

Jonathan R Shaw: The measurement of the performance of inspections carried out in relation to the enforcement of fishery protection is a complex issue.
	Comparisons of the number of inspections carried out per year, or the number of inspections per patrol vessel per day are simple performance indicators which give a very broad overview but give no indication of the numerous factors which may have affected that performance and no meaningful measurement of effectiveness.
	In the last three years the Marine and Fisheries Agency has moved to a more targeted risk-based system of inspection, taking account of fisheries under pressure, quota restrictions, previous offending, and other such factors.
	The Marine and Fisheries Agency are currently in the process of developing methods to strengthen the gathering and use of intelligence and more accurately assess the effectiveness of inspection activity.

Fisheries: Inspections

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many inspectors monitoring landings in the fishing industry there were in each year since 1997; in which landing places they were operational; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: Information on the numbers of fisheries inspectors is provided in the Annual Reports on Monitoring the Application of the Common Fisheries Policy submitted by the United Kingdom pursuant to Article 35 of Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2847/93. Copies of these reports will be placed in the House Library. Copies of the report for 1997 are not available and the 2007 report has not been completed yet.
	The locations of fisheries inspectors have been adjusted slightly over the period since 1997 in order to ensure that the inspectors are located most effectively, as the activity at some landing ports has declined and others have increased. Inspectors are located in such a way that all landing places within England and Wales can be monitored.

Fisheries: Inspections

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely effect of changes to the budget of the Marine and Fisheries Agency for 2008-09 on the number of landings inspectors; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The budget agreed with the Marine and Fisheries Agency for 2008-09 should have no implications on the number of landings inspectors employed by the Marine and Fisheries Agency.

Fisheries: Inspections

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fisheries inspectors have access to VMS data and the MCSS database; which other staff have such access; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: All Marine and Fisheries Agency inspectors and operational focused administration staff have access to VMS—vessel monitoring system—data and the MCSS database as appropriate and in accordance with operational requirements.

Flood Control: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much of his Department's flood protection budget will be spent on administration in 2007-08.

Phil Woolas: The definition of administration is subjective and open to interpretation.
	The estimate of direct administrative spend on flood risk management in DEFRA is some £2 million. This covers direct pay, expenses and training for DEFRA Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management staff and consultancy.
	Environment Agency flood risk management activities carry a share of administrative costs in relation to the overall £1 billion budget. Using the definition agreed with the National Audit Office for its report on building and maintaining river and coastal flood defences in England, the Environment Agency estimates its costs in support of flood risk management activities in 2007-08 to be:
	
		
			  Activity  £ million 
			 Policy and Process Development 7.4 
			 Corporate Information Systems Development and Support 7.8 
			 Regional: Management, Finance, Legal, Estates, Human Resources, Facilities and Business Services, Accommodation, Strategy and Corporate Affairs and Customer Services 35.4 
			 National: Environmental Assessment Service, Payments and Payroll, Science, Library and Information, Audit, Recruitment, Procurement, Transport, Financial/HR System and Support Centre and Customer Contact Centre 7.7 
			 Central Directorates: Chief Executive's Office including Board, Corporate Affairs, Operations, Finance, Property Team, HR and Legal 6.7 
			 Total 65.0 
		
	
	The Environment Agency continues to drive its efficiency programme to develop better ways of working to reduce costs and deliver more for the environment. Environment Agency efficiency targets over the spending review period are £25 million per annum, of which some £15 million will be flood risk management.

Floods: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects to allocate funding in accordance with the Pitt Recommendations following the summer floods 2007.

Phil Woolas: It has not yet been determined how the money to fund work arising from the Pitt review will be allocated. A decision is not expected until after the final report has been produced and the recommendations within it considered and prioritised. In the meantime we are pursuing the urgent recommendations from the interim report in December.

Warm Front scheme: Disadvantaged

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will assess the likely effect of the reduction of the annual funding for the Warm Front grant on the delivery of services to settlements of fewer than 10,000 people classified as  (a) hard to reach and  (b) hard to treat, with particular reference to the (i) waiting times for installation and (ii) the average amount customers will have to pay as a top-up.

Phil Woolas: No direct assessment has taken place, and DEFRA has no plans to do so in future.
	However, Warm Front will continue to target properties that are difficult to reach and treat to enable them to benefit from the scheme. This includes those in settlements of fewer than 10,000 people.
	As confirmed in the Government's 5th Annual Report on the UK's Fuel Poverty Strategy published in December 2007, funding for the Warm Front scheme for 2008-11 period will be just over £800 million.

Litter

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to review the regulations over the timing of litter picking set out in the Environment Protection Act 1990; and if he will make a statement.

Joan Ruddock: Response times for street cleansing are set out in the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (available from the DEFRA website) which was revised in 2006.

Sea Fishing: White Fish

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether he has made a comparative assessment of the potential value of the recreational sea fishery for bass and the value of commercial landings of bass.

Jonathan R Shaw: No. The potential value of recreational fishing for bass and the value of commercial landings of bass measure different things and therefore are not directly comparable. The potential value of recreational fishing for bass would include expenditure by anglers on items such as travel and accommodation, whereas the value of commercial landings of bass covers only the value of fish landed and does not take account of the economic contribution of related activity such as processing. However, in developing any management measures for stocks of interest to anglers, I would want to assess where possible the potential value of the measure to both recreational anglers and commercial fishermen.
	I am currently consulting on a draft recreational sea angling strategy which considers a package of measures for the development of recreational sea fishing. The consultation closes on 31 March.

Whales: Nature Conservation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 18 February 2008,  Official Report, column 280W, on whales: nature conservation, when he will hold the meeting of like-minded anti-whaling countries; whether there will be any Ministers present; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether he has written to any other countries to encourage them to join the International Whaling Commission; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The UK commissioner to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) hosted a meeting of like-minded anti-whaling countries immediately prior to the inter-sessional meeting of the IWC on 5 March 2008 in Heathrow, London. There were no Ministers present. However, I do plan to attend the annual IWC meeting in Chile in June this year.
	I have not yet written to any countries on the issue of membership. However, as stated in previous responses to questions from the hon. Member, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State (Hilary Benn) has recently written to 18 countries, encouraging them to join the IWC for the greater protection of whales.

Whales: Nature Conservation

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what his objective is for the inter-sessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission to be held on 6 to 8 March 2008; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which countries are attending the inter-sessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission to be held on 6 to 8 March 2008;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the  (a) agenda and  (b) minutes of the inter-sessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission, of 6 to 8 March 2008; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw: The UK's policy on whaling did not change either in the build up to, or during the course of, the inter-sessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The UK continues to support the IWC Moratorium on commercial whaling and opposes all forms of whaling, other than limited whaling operations by indigenous people for subsistence purposes, to meet a defined and substantiated need.
	The agenda from the meeting, the list of its attendees and the statements it generated are all currently available on the IWC website, with a full report from the chair to follow in due course.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Departmental Expenditure Limits

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to his written statement of 19 February 2008,  Official Report, columns 34-37WS, on the departmental expenditure limit 2007-08, what the reasons are for the drawdown on the reserve for matched funding in the spring supplementary estimate exceeding that forecast in the winter supplementary estimate by £74,729,000.

Phil Hope: The drawdown was to provide agreed match funding to 'v'; v is a charity which helps introduce young people to volunteering.
	The amount of £4,729,000 was in addition to the amount drawndown in the winter supplementary estimate and not in excess of it.

Voluntary Organisations: Contracts

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what tendering process was undertaken for the contract to administer the Grassroots Grants programme.

Phil Hope: The Community Development Foundation (CDF) was appointed as the lead national partner administering the Grassroots Grants programme under the terms of a framework agreement between CDF and Cabinet Office.
	A fair and open competitive procurement exercise in 2005, compliant with EU rules and UK Government policy and procedures, identified CDF as one of four partners to the framework agreement. These organisations can then be selected through a call-off arrangement to administer strategic and other grant programmes. The tender panel concluded that CDF should be first choice for projects that have a community interest.
	In 2007 the Office of the Third Sector issued a formal Request to Participate to CDF under the framework agreement, and CDF submitted a detailed proposal that fully demonstrated their suitability as lead national partner for Grassroots Grants.

DEFENCE

Air Force: Deployment

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average unit tour interval was for each  (a) aircraft and  (b) helicopter crew type in the Royal Air Force in the latest period for which figures are available.

Bob Ainsworth: The following table provides the latest average tour intervals between deployments for the crews of the aircraft and helicopter types specified. It should be noted that there may be variances for individual crew members.
	
		
			   Weeks 
			   Average crew tour interval 
			  Aircraft type 
			 Tornado GR4 52 
			 Harrier 40 
			 Tristar 21 
			 VC10 12 
			 C130 10 
			 Nimrod Rl 10 
			 Nimrod MR2 35 
			 BAe 125 10 
			   
			  Helicopter type 
			 Chinook 32 
			 Puma 32 
			 Merlin 32 
		
	
	Tour lengths for crew on different aircraft/helicopter types vary from three to 12
	weeks.

Armed Forces: Pay

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel have  (a) not received their salaries in full and  (b) not received any salary payment in each of the last 12 months; what the total sums (i) underpaid and (ii) not paid were; and how much is outstanding.

Derek Twigg: The number of underpayments resulting from joint personnel administration system errors in the last 12 months is as follows:
	
		
			   Underpayments 
			 February 2007 0 
			 March 2007 54 
			 April 2007 252 
			 May 2007 (1)1,181 
			 June 2007 90 
			 July 2007 416 
			 August 2007 (2)46,305 
			 September 2007 (3)722 
			 October 2007 50 
			 November 2007 311 
			 December 2007 2 
			 January 2008 0 
			 (1) The majority of the underpayments were caused by University Officer Training Corps input of bounties and training nights. Other factors were mess subscriptions and disturbance allowance. There were a further 3,340 minor errors due to the migration of some Army data elements. These were mainly resolved in June, although the level of detail to distinguish between overpayment and underpayment is not held. (2) Comprised 35,553 incorrect deductions of £3.00 in respect of contributions to the discontinued Royal Navy and Royal Marines Dependants' Fund, and 10,752 underpayments of Home to Duty Travel claims for Reservists averaging £20-£30. The former was re-credited to pay accounts in October, and the latter underpayments paid in September. (3) A further 4,249 errors occurred when an incorrect rank on JPA generated an erroneous payment. The level of detail to distinguish between overpayment and underpayment is not held. Corrective action was taken in time for the October 2007 pay run. 
		
	
	The total sums underpaid, not paid and still outstanding are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, local cash payments are always available to individuals and in the vast majority of cases once a central pay error is identified, it is corrected within one or, at most, two months.
	In accordance with the former Armed Forces Personnel and Administration Agency's performance against key target 1 (timeliness of pay), as set out in its annual corporate plan and annual report and accounts, 773 monthly salary payments, out of a total of more than three million, were paid late in financial year 2006-07, the last full financial year available. The definition of a late payment is when no money is paid into an individual's account on the designated day for that month. In all cases where late payments will result in hardship, the unit to which an individual is assigned is authorised to make cash payments in lieu.
	Delays or errors in individual payments can also occur as the result of late or incorrect inputs by unit human resources staff, and failures to follow the correct processes within the payroll area. This information is held centrally.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the in-service dates were of the  (a) Mastiff,  (b) Bulldog and  (c) Vector vehicles.

Bob Ainsworth: The in service dates for Mastiff (tranche 1), Bulldog and Vector (tranche 1) were, 31 December 2006, 31 August 2006, and 31 March 2007 respectively.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many equipment failure reports  (a) were filed in each year since 2003 and  (b) have been filed in the last 12 months for each armoured vehicle type .

Bob Ainsworth: As reported by the users, the approximate number of equipment failure reports filed in each year since 2003 and filed in the last 12 months for each armoured vehicle type are:
	
		
			  Vehicle Type  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 so far  Last 12 Months 
			 Challenger 2 2467 1737 1629 1369 1148 145 997 
			 CVR(T) 445 252 194 372 304 70 324 
			 FV430 Bulldog n/a n/a n/a n/a 165 56 210 
			 FV430 Mk2 447 480 363 325 289 21 252 
			 Mastiff n/a n/a n/a n/a 163 103 261 
			 Saxon GWR and Patrol 45 66 21 10 4 0 2 
			 Titan n/a n/a n/a 183 418 8 402 
			 Trojan n/a n/a n/a 131 677 9 643 
			 Vector n/a n/a n/a n/a 56 65 120 
			 Warrior 590 668 576 899 603 102 606 
		
	
	The equipment failure reporting system (EFRS) is the mandated system for equipment users to report failures, such as accidental damage, maintenance related failures and breakdowns, or the failure of an item fitted to the vehicle. It does not incorporate the results of subsequent investigations and therefore does not differentiate between what might later prove to have been a problem caused by operator error or damage sustained as a result of operations. Nor does this data record the severity of a failure which might have no discernible impact on operational capability or safety.

Departmental Land

Lembit �pik: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of land owned by his Department is unused; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) keeps its estate in Great Britain (around 240,000 hectares) under continual review to ensure that it is no larger than is required for defence purposes. Land and property may be temporarily used for many purposes and no central record is maintained.
	Under Treasury guidelines, we seek to dispose of surplus property as quickly as possible. A list of sites either currently in disposal or where a decision has been taken to dispose in the future is available in the Library of the House and is regularly updated. In addition, information regarding property for sale can be found on the Defence estates website at:
	www.defence-estates.mod.uk

Departmental Official Visits

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of overnight accommodation for  (a) civil servants,  (b) special advisers and  (c) Ministers in his Department staying overnight in (i) mainland Great Britain, (ii) Northern Ireland, (iii) the Republic of Ireland and (iv) other countries in the last 12 months.

Derek Twigg: This information is not held centrally in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However, the Ministry of Defence operates a Central Hotel Booking Service, which accounts for the great majority of all temporary overnight hotel requirements for civil servants, special advisers and Ministers. For the period from March 2007 to February 2008, the total civilian bookings through the Central Hotel Booking Service contract were 12.9 million.
	These figures do not cover cases where, for instance, costs of accommodation may be included within a training cost or otherwise be paid for direct by budget holders; or where private arrangements are made and costs reclaimed locally overseas. Nor does the figure include non-departmental public bodies which do not use the contract.
	In addition the cost of claims made by civilian staff through the central travel and subsistence service for local accommodation outside the Central Hotel Booking Service in 2006-07 was 2.15 million.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether consideration has been given to applying gender responsive budgeting to his Department's budget.

Derek Twigg: The UK Government are supportive of efforts to achieve gender equality and continue to work very closely with both the Women's National Commission and the Women's Budget Group on promoting gender equality within the UK. In 2004, HM Treasury undertook a pilot project on gender analysis of expenditure with the Women's Budget Group. The project demonstrated the value of gender analysis in some areas and identified what tools and expertise were necessary within Government to carry out gender analysis, but that further work was needed before gender responsive budgeting could be implemented. In 2008, HM Treasury will be conducting further work that will determine whether it is prudent and feasible to disaggregate departmental expenditure statistics by gender.
	The MOD has a number of initiatives to promote gender equality where appropriate.

Afghanistan and Iraq: Defence Equipment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what standard issue equipment each soldier deployed to  (a) Afghanistan and  (b) Iraq receives; and at what cost per soldier in each case.

Bob Ainsworth: The following list shows standard personal equipment, which is typical of that issued to British Army personnel when deploying to either Iraq or Afghanistan. The total cost of this equipment amounts to around 2,500 per individual.
	The actual equipment an individual is supplied with will vary dependant on the role of the soldier, the time of year in which they deploy and whether they have previously been supplied with any of the listed items. Neither does the list include any other items an individual may need on a particular deployment which were supplied to them, for example, as part of their initial issue kit.
	 Item
	Lightweight Desert Jacket
	Desert Trousers
	Desert Combat Smock
	Socks
	Desert Shorts
	Desert T-shirts
	Rank Slides
	Desert Helmet cover
	Desert Combat Gloves
	Desert Hat
	Desert Sandals
	Combat underwear
	Mk6A Helmet
	General purpose belt
	Hot weather shirts
	Warm weather safety boots
	Lightweight Desert Combat boots
	Combat ear protection
	Pad Knee/Elbow Desert
	Thermal Sleeping Mat
	Daysack
	Op Travel Bag
	Thermal Mug
	Shelter Sheet Desert
	Bag Shelter Sheet
	Insect Net Protector (Mos Net) Bed
	Cover Rucksack Small (Pouches)
	Cover Rucksack Large
	Spectacles Combat (Sunglasses)
	ID Discs
	Goggles Combat
	Eyewear Prescriptive Lens Fitment
	Washing net
	Warm Weather Sleeping Bag
	Compression Sack
	Liner Sleeping Bag
	Vest Tactical Load Carrying
	Head Net Insect
	30 Litre Patrol Pack
	Shemagh
	Rag Sweat Desert
	Snap Link Rappeller
	MK12 General Purpose Binocular
	Silva compass
	General Service watch
	SA80 A2 Individual weapon (Magazine and Sling cleaning Kit)
	Right Angle torch
	Padlock
	Enhanced Combat Body Armour
	First Field Dressing
	Notebook/Pencil
	Lipscreen
	Sunscreen
	Insect Repellent
	Foot Powder
	Entrenching Tool Hand
	Personal Medical Kit
	NBC clothing
	Operational Medical Record Card

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Colin Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many UK armed forces personnel were based in Iraq on 1 January 2008; and how many there were on 1 January in each of the previous three years.

Bob Ainsworth: The approximate number of established posts for UK armed forces personnel in Iraq on each of those dates are as follows:
	
		
			  As at 1 January each year  Number approximate 
			 2008 4,700 
			 2007 7,100 
			 2006 8,000 
			 2005 8,000 
		
	
	The actual number of UK military personnel in theatre at any one time varies significantly for a range of reasons, including roulements, rest and recuperation periods and temporary troop deployments.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Territorial Army have been killed in operations in Iraq since 2003, broken down by  (a) rank and  (b) regiment.

Bob Ainsworth: As at 12 March 2008, five UK Territorial Army personnel have died while on deployment in Iraq since the start of operations in 2003; three privates, one corporal and one sergeant.
	At the time of their deaths two members of the Territorial Army were serving with the 52nd Lowland Regiment, one was serving with the 150 (Yorkshire) Transport Regiment (Volunteers), one was serving with the Royal Military Police and one was serving with the Tyne-Tees Regiment.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of  (a) the Territorial Army and  (b) Commonwealth forces served in Iraq in each year since 2003.

Bob Ainsworth: Data on the number of Commonwealth forces who have served in Iraq in each year since 2003 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The number of Territorial Army personnel who have deployed to Iraq in the same period, is as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2002-03 3746 
			 2003-04 4,458 
			 2004-05 1,612 
			 2005-06 1,189 
			 2006-07 493 
			 2007-08 334 
			 Total 11,832

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the  (a) Army,  (b) Royal Navy,  (c) Royal Air Force and  (d) Marines have been killed in operations in Iraq since 2003.

Bob Ainsworth: As at 12 March 2008, a total of 174 UK armed forces personnel have died while on deployment or as a result of injuries sustained in Iraq, broken down as follows:
	20 Royal Navy personnel (12 Royal Marines);
	132 Army personnel; and
	22 RAF personnel.

Nimrod Aircraft

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Nimrod MR2 aircraft were  (a) in service and  (b) fit for purpose at the latest date for which figures are available.

Bob Ainsworth: The number of Nimrod MR2 aircraft that are planned to be in service with the RAF on 31 March 2008 is 15.
	The average number of Nimrod MR2 aircraft which were fit for purpose in February 2008 was five. Aircraft defined as fit for purpose are those considered capable of carrying out their planned missions on a given date.

Peacekeeping Operations

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 3 March 2008,  Official Report, column 2057W, on peacekeeping operations, whether there is a NATO Operational Reserve Force for ISAF forces in Afghanistan.

Bob Ainsworth: The Operational Reserve Force (ORF) for ISAF was provided from August to December 2006 by Romania. Since December 2006, it has been an unfilled requirement on NATO's Combined Joint Statement of Requirements. NATO is working to ensure that the ISAF ORF requirement is met as soon as possible. There are existing in-theatre and strategic reserves.

Treaty of Lisbon

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Article 3 of the Treaty of Lisbon is justiciable by the European Court of Justice.

Jim Murphy: I have been asked to reply.
	The European Court of Justice (ECJ) does not justify provisions in EU Treaties. Article 220 of the Treaty Establishing the European Community makes clear that the ECJ's role is to
	ensure that in the interpretation and application of this Treaty the law is observed.

TREASURY

Valuation Office

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the records project specification and plan of the Valuation Office Agency.

Jane Kennedy: The Valuation Office Agency has yet to decide if it will introduce an electronic document and records management system and, if so, to what specification.

Assets

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the median value of  (a) gross assets and  (b) net assets held by (i) individuals and (ii) households was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 14 March 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the median value of (a) gross assets and (b) net assets held by (i) individuals and (ii) households was in the most recent year for which figures are available. (194576)
	There are currently no official estimates available of the median value of gross or net assets, for either individuals or households. Estimates will be available from the Wealth and Assets Survey that is now being carried out.

Benzodiazepines: Death

John Grogan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths from drug-related poisoning occurred in England where  (a) benzodiazepines were mentioned and  (b) benzodiazepines were mentioned with other drugs in each year from 1999 to 2006.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 14 March 2008:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths from drug related poisoning occurred in England where (a) benzodiazepines were total mentions and (b) benzodiazepines were mentioned with other drugs in each year from 1999 to 2006. (194101)
	The table below shows the number of deaths for which the underlying cause was drug-related poisoning, and where benzodiazepines were mentioned on the death record, alone or with other substances. Figures are provided for usual residents of England for the years 1999 to 2006.
	
		
			  Deaths from drug-related poisoning( 1)  where benzodiazepines were mentioned on the death record, England( 2) ,1999 to 2006( 3) 
			   Total mentions( 4)  Mentions without other drugs 
			 1999 245 46 
			 2000 189 33 
			 2001 222 32 
			 2002 228 34 
			 2003 198 29 
			 2004 218 40 
			 2005 176 30 
			 2006 159 30 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (JCD-9) codes 292, 303, 305,2-305.9, E850-E858, E950.0-E950.5, E980.0-E980.5 andE962.0 for the years 1999 and 2000 and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes FI1-F16, F18-F19, X40-X44, X60-X64, X85 and YIO-Y14 from 2001 onwards. These deaths were selected where benzodiazepines were mentioned on the death record. (2) Deaths of usual residents of England. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. (4) Includes benzodiazepines mentioned with other drugs.

Cancer

Annette Brooke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the survival rates for each of the main categories of cancer are in each primary care trust in England in the last three years for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 14 March 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the survival rates for each of the main categories of cancer are in each primary care trust in England in the last three years for which figures are available. (194179)
	The Office for National Statistics does not produce survival rates by primary care trust area. The lowest geographical area for which rates are available are strategic health authority areas. The latest one- and five-year survival for eight common cancers by government office region, and strategic health authority, for patients diagnosed in 1997-99 and followed up to 31 December 2004, are available on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=11991 Pos=9ColRank=1Rank=272

Child Benefit

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost has been to his Department of sending letters to child benefit claimants notifying them of the annual increase in child benefit in the last 12 month period for which data are available; and how many letters have been sent.

Jane Kennedy: During the last completed exercise, which ended on 28 March 2007, 7.4 million letters were issued advising customers of the amount of child benefit they would receive from 9 April 2007.
	The issuing of the up-rating letter is a routine business process: it is only possible to provide a separate cost for the exercise at disproportionate expense.

Council Tax: Wales

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions the Valuation Office Agency has had with the Welsh Assembly Government on council tax revaluation.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 13 March 2008
	No discussions, recent or otherwise, have taken place between the Valuation Office Agency and the Welsh Assembly Government with regard to any future council tax revaluation in Wales.

Departmental Accountancy

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what changes were made on overhead apportionment between cost centres within his Department in financial year 2006-07; and what assessment he has made of the net effect on these changes on costs attributable to the provision of tax credits.

Jane Kennedy: Tax credits are a priority for HM Revenue and Customs. Staff numbers increased in 2006-07, particularly to add extra capacity on the tax credits helpline. 1.3 million more calls were handled in 2006-07 than in 2005-06.
	The increase in administrative costs reflects both the increase in staff numbers and a new method in apportioning overheads which in 2006-07 increased the proportion allocated to tax credits.

Departmental Data Protection

Brian H Donohoe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints from individuals directly his Department has received as a consequence of the loss of personal data held by his Department and its agencies.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested is not available in respect of the Treasury and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Databases

Adam Price: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether  (a) companies based in the United States and  (b) UK subsidiaries of US companies have been contracted by his Department and its agencies to provide services involving the use, storage, processing or analysis of databases of personal information held by the Government on UK citizens in the last five years.

Angela Eagle: HM Treasury, including its agencies has engaged a US registered service provider to manage aspects of storage, processing or analysis of personal information.
	In addition the Treasury, including its agencies has engaged a UK subsidiary of a US registered service provider to manage aspects of storage, processing or analysis of personal information.
	The Data Protection Act 1998 includes provisions to ensure that personal data benefits from adequate protection when it is transferred outside the European Economic Area by UK data controllers.
	Contracts are based on UK contract law with the applicable statutory safeguards.

Departmental Pensions

David Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of staff in his Department were making additional voluntary contributions to their pensions in each of the last two years.

Angela Eagle: The information you require is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			  Year  Number  Percentage of staff 
			 2006-07 83 7.4 
			 2007-08 86 7.1

HM Revenue and Customs Business Brief

Clive Efford: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what representations he has received on the provisions of HM Revenue and Customs Business Brief 50/07;
	(2)  if he will make it his policy not to pursue back-payment of value added tax from sports and leisure trusts under the terms of HM Revenue and Customs Business Brief 50/07.

Jane Kennedy: Representations are regularly made to Treasury Ministers and officials on a wide range of issues.
	HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has a statutory duty to collect VAT that has been under declared, and may assess to recover arrears of VAT where VAT was properly due but was not charged and was not paid over to HMRC.
	Although the Commissioners of HMRC may make concessions in certain circumstances, for example where administrative savings would outweigh the tax, in this instance, not collecting VAT that is properly due would be beyond what is legally permissible.
	However, the Commissioners do have discretionary power to grant extra time to pay arrears where this is appropriate in the individual circumstances of the taxpayer and consistent with the commission its arrears it should approach HMRC to ask for a time to pay arrangement to be considered.
	Furthermore, where evidence can be provided that an individual taxpayer has accounted for VAT incorrectly because of a bona fide misunderstanding, or because he has been misdirected by HMRC, within the terms of extra statutory concessions 3.4 and 3.5 as published in HMRC Notice 48?Extra statutory concessions, HMRC will not seek to recover arrears of the tax.

Income Tax: Overpayments

David Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the value of unclaimed income tax overpayments for the last period for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 11 March 208
	HM Revenue and Customs wants all business and individuals to pay only the correct amount of tax and therefore repays overpaid tax, usually without a formal claim being required.
	HMRC does not hold information on the value of unclaimed overpayments. In the NAO Standard Report on HMRC 2006-07 Accounts published 6 July 2007 the Comptroller and Auditor General estimated that around 340 million may be overpaid in income tax by customers within the PAYE process.

Nationality: Northern Ireland

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people resident in Northern Ireland were  (a) British citizens,  (b) Irish citizens,  (c) both and  (d) neither on the latest date for which figures are available, broken down by county.

Angela Eagle: This is a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland Administration.

Personal Savings

Greg Clark: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the median value of savings held by individuals was in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: The requested information is not available.

Planning Permission

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what planning applications his Department has made to Westminster City Council since May 1997; and what the  (a) planning reference number and  (b) purpose of each application was.

Angela Eagle: The Treasury has made no planning applications to Westminster city council since May 1997.

Registration of Births Deaths Marriages and Civil Partnerships

Greg Clark: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to provide public access to the General Register Office's microfiche indexes in  (a) London and  (b) elsewhere in the UK.

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 14 March 2008:
	As National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about what plans there are to provide public access to the General Register Office's microfiche indexes in (a) London and (b) elsewhere in the UK.
	The General Register Office has entered into discussion and agreement with a number of public facilities throughout England and Wales on the hosting of microfiche copies of the indexes and to provide free access.
	Upon closure of the Family Records Centre these indexes will be made publicly available at centres to include Greater Manchester County Record Office, Birmingham Central Library, Bridgend Reference and Information Library and Plymouth Central Library as well as at the National Archives in Kew.
	The General Register Office plan to make the indexes available at another location in central London and are currently in discussion with an archive centre in the City of Westminster.

Revenue and Customs: Track and Trace Programme

Mark Hoban: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much HM Revenue and Customs spent on the track and trace programme in each of the last 12 months.

Jane Kennedy: holding answer 11 March 2008
	For the year April 2006 to March 2007, HMRC handled approximately 300 million pieces of outgoing post.
	HMRC may make use of track and trace services in the following circumstances if deemed appropriate by the business area:
	Parcels to non-residential addresses
	Tracking and tracing of letters and courier network list recipients where required by the business unit in question.
	Urgent delivery of urgent / valuable mail
	Where goods require special handling (hazardous / perishable / fragile)
	Same Day Timed service
	Next Day services
	2/3 Day services
	HMRC spend on track and trace services in each of the last 12 months is as follows:
	
		
			   
			  2007  
			 March 52,781.42 
			 April 52,308.16 
			 May 48,633.19 
			 June 39,829.93 
			 July 42,217.68 
			 August 49,790.26 
			 September 35,595.84 
			 October 36,245.09 
			 November 37,313.96 
			 December 37,138.84 
			  2008  
			 January 65,922.71 
			 February 91,471.11 
		
	
	The recent increase in cost of track and trace services reflects the tightening of HMRC's data handling procedures, following the loss of child benefit data.

Taxation: Gambling

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2008,  Official Report, column 2589W, on taxation: gambling, if he will publish a breakdown of betting and gaming duties showing how much remote gaming duty has been collected since its introduction.

Angela Eagle: HM Revenue and Customs are not currently able to publish a breakdown of remote gaming duty while maintaining taxpayer confidentiality.

Valuation Office: Industrial Disputes

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect of industrial action at the Valuation Office Agency on the agency's work on  (a) council tax valuations and  (b) business rates revaluation.

Jane Kennedy: The Valuation Office Agency expects that it will be able to maintain the essential services it provides to customers throughout the period of industrial action, which is planned to end on 31 March 2008.

Valuation Office: Retirement

Bob Neill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library a copy of the minutes of the November 2007 (National) Whitley Council meeting of the Valuation Office Agency; and whether the Agency plans to review the retirement age for its staff.

Jane Kennedy: The minutes of the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) National Whitley Committee meeting, held on 15 November 2007, have been placed in the Library. The VOA reviewed its policy on the retirement age for its employees and decided to remove the upper retirement age of 65 with effect from 1 January 2008.

Valuation Office: Wales

Eric Pickles: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many appeals regarding revaluation in Wales the Agency has processed in the last three years; how many of these were allowed  (a) in whole and  (b) in part; and how many appeals were outstanding at the latest date for which figures are available.

Jane Kennedy: As at 29 February 2008 the Valuation Office Agency had received 20,316 formal appeals against the 2005 Council Tax Lists for Wales. As at the same date 19,716 had been cleared, of which 12,458 resulted in an amendment to the council tax band. As at 29 February 2008, 599 formal appeals were outstanding.

VAT

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the change in revenue to the Exchequer which would result from a one penny rise in the rate of value added tax in 2008-09.

Jane Kennedy: Effects of illustrative percentage point changes in VAT rates are published in Table 6 of the Tax Ready Reckoner and Tax Reliefs, which is published annually alongside the pre-Budget Report. It is available from the HM Treasury website and a hard copy can be found in the House of Commons' Library.

VAT: Bingo

Mike Wood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors he considered in maintaining value added tax on bingo participation fees in the 2007 Budget.

Angela Eagle: The Government consider all relevant factors when establishing and maintaining fair regimes for the gambling taxes.

VAT: Sunscreens

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations have been made to his Department for the removal of Value Added Tax from suncare products; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Kennedy: Representations are regularly made to Treasury Ministers and officials on a wide range of issues. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 April 2007,  Official Report, column 998W, to the hon. Member for Castle Point (Bob Spink).

Welfare Tax Credits

Philip Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people have applied to be removed from tax credit schemes since 2003.

Jane Kennedy: This information is not available.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Burma: Free Trade

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the proposed EU-ASEAN free trade agreement on the military regime in Burma.

Meg Munn: The UK has consistently made it clear that the Government cannot agree to Burma benefiting from an EU-Association of South East Asian Nations Free Trade Agreement until it achieves an inclusive transition to democracy.

Burma: Human Rights

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to ensure that the United Nations and ASEAN bring pressure on the military regime in Burma to  (a) revise its proposed constitution, referendum and elections and  (b) engage in dialogue with the National League for Democracy and the ethnic nationalities.

Meg Munn: Since the announcement of a referendum and elections, the Government have been at the forefront of international calls to the Burmese regime to ensure it is a genuinely inclusive process. Our permanent mission in New York has discussed the fundamental flaws of the constitution with Professor Gambari, who has just completed his third visit to Burma since the crackdown last autumn. We will continue to press for action within the UN. We keep in close contact with partners in the region, including the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), to build up constructive pressure on the Burmese regime and their continued engagement on Burma related issues. Most recently, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister discussed Burma with his Vietnamese counterpart in London. I spelt out our concerns with the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs (18 February 2008), the Thai Foreign Minister, Noppadon, and the Thai Minister of Interior, the ASEAN Secretary-General (29 February 2008) and the Indonesian Foreign Minister (3 March 2008). I spoke to Thai Foreign Minister Noppadon again on this issue on 11 March 2008.

Burma: India

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Indian government on the situation in Burma.

Meg Munn: We continue to raise Burma regularly with the Indian Government and at the highest levels. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister discussed the situation with Prime Minister Singh during his January visit to India and Burma featured in the joint statement that emerged from that visit. Our high commission in Delhi remains engaged on the issue in its discussions with the Indian Government. We continue to encourage all those with influence on the Burmese regime to keep up pressure for reconciliation and reform, which must allow the full participation of the opposition and ethnic groups.

Burma: Prisoners

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has recently discussed the case of Khun Tun Oo with the Burmese military regime.

Meg Munn: U Khun Tun Oo, Leader of Shan National League for Democracy, remains in prison serving a 93-year sentence. The Government have, bilaterally and through EU and UN mechanisms, repeatedly called for the release of all political prisoners in Burma. This was a fundamental demand in the UN Presidential Statement of 11 October 2007.

Burma: Referendums

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what his assessment is of the role that the Union Solidarity Development Association will have in  (a) organising local-level voting and  (b) other respects in the referendum and proposed elections in Burma.

Meg Munn: While the precise role of the Union Solidarity Development Association is as yet unknown, we believe that the regime in Burma will use its membership in the election process to secure the result that it desires. We do not discount the possibility that the semi-government social organisation will play a central role both in the organisation of the voting and counting processes and in supporting the 'yes' vote for the forthcoming referendum in Burma. This would further undermine the credibility of the regime's roadmap.

Burma: Referendums

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on the rules for the conduct of the proposed constitutional referendum in Burma, with particular reference to those which indicate that the regime will not take account of abstentions and no votes.

Meg Munn: On 27 February 2008 the State Peace and Development Council issued the referendum law, announcing a referendum committee and setting out regulations on electoral rolls, voting and counting procedures for the proposed constitutional referendum. The regulation (Chapter VIII 22 (a)(l)) states
	votes in favour, votes against and cancelled votes shall be differentiated and counted.
	There is no indication that abstentions and no votes will be ignored. It is, however, unclear what percentage of the vote will be needed for the constitution to be passed. We continue to press, bilaterally and through the UN, for a credible process that allows people to voice their views freely, including political prisoners and ethnic nationalities, and responds to the aspirations of the people of Burma.

Burma: Referendums

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has received on Burma's military regime new law which will result in the potential imprisonment of anyone who distributes leaflets or delivers speeches against the proposed constitutional referendum.

Meg Munn: On 27 February, the State Peace and Development Council issued the referendum law, announcing a referendum committee and setting out regulations on electoral rolls, voting and counting procedures for the proposed constitutional referendum. One element of the regulation is a ban on public or private anti-referendum activities. The crime carries a sentence of up to three years or a heavy fine. The regulation is clearly intended to silence opposition. Unless the process allows people to express their views on the referendum freely, including those who have been silenced by their detention, the process will not be credible, neither to the people of Burma nor to the international community.

Burma: Referendums

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of whether the proposed referendum on the draft constitution in Burma will be free and fair.

Meg Munn: We have consistently made clear that only an inclusive process of national reconciliation can bring stability and prosperity to the country. Laws that make it a crime to criticise the referendum and to campaign against it are also unacceptable. The regime's attempts to exclude certain groups and individuals from the political process fail to meet international demands and will exacerbate tension and instability in Burma. In our contacts with the military government, and those who have influence over them, we continue to stress the need for all political actors, including Aung San Suu Kyi and all political leaders, as well as political organisations representing ethnic nationalities, to be allowed to play their full part in shaping the country's future.

Burma: Refugees

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will raise with the government of Malaysia their treatment of Burmese refugees in Malaysia.

Meg Munn: Our high commission in Kuala Lumpur keeps in regular contact with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia. Our high commission has consistently supported the work of the UNHCR, including in addressing the issue of recognition of UNHCR-certified persons of concern.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has no plans to raise this issue with the Malaysian Government. Our high commission in Kuala Lumpur is working with the UNHCR on the way forward.

Burma: Thailand

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the policies of the Royal Thai Government towards the military regime in Burma.

Meg Munn: I discussed issues relating to Burma with the Thai Foreign Minister, Noppadon Pattama, on 29 February during my recent visit to Thailand.
	The Thai Foreign Minister assured me that the new Thai Government want to become more actively engaged on Burma as part of a wider Neighbourhood Engagement Policy. Foreign Minister Noppadon has said that he wants to help move Burma towards democracy. He stated that the political process in Burma must be inclusive and the forthcoming referendum credible. We continue to discuss all aspects of the Burma situation with the Thai Government on a regular basis and have asked the Thai Government to convey the concerns of the international community when Prime Minister Samak visits Burma this month.

Fisheries: EC Action

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what correspondence he received from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the  (a) proposed European Constitution and  (b) Lisbon Treaty on (i) fisheries, (ii) the marine environment and (iii) marine biological resources; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: My right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs correspond regularly on a range of EU business, including on matters concerning the Lisbon treaty and, in the past, the abandoned constitutional treaty.
	The Lisbon treaty extends co-decision to agriculture and fisheries, but otherwise does not make any significant change in relation to fisheries and marine policy issues where it simply reflects the extent of powers under the current treaties.

Human Rights: Conferences

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which issues were raised by the UK representative at the 31 August 2007 preparatory conference for Durban II on  (a) anti-Semitism,  (b) Holocaust education and  (c) the UK's view of the events of Durban I.

Meg Munn: The Presidency of the European Union spoke on behalf of all member states at the August 2007 Durban Review Conference preparatory committee. As outlined in the response I gave to my hon. Friend on 28 February 2008  Official Report, columns 1822-23W, the agenda has not yet been discussed in detail. The Government takes work on Holocaust education and remembrance very seriously. Article 58 of the Durban declaration made clear that the Holocaust must not be forgotten. We will seek opportunities with our EU partners to give Holocaust education and remembrance appropriate attention as negotiations continue.

Human Rights: Conferences

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the minutes of preparatory meetings for Durban II.

Meg Munn: The UN published a report of the first session of the Preparatory Committee on its website, which can be accessed at:
	http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/racism/groups/prep_ committee_durban/docs/prepcomdraft.doc.
	Reports of future meetings will be published on the same website.

Malaysia

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will urge the government of Malaysia to disband RELA the Volunteer People's Corp.

Meg Munn: The People's Volunteer Corps (RELA) is a legally constituted body within the Malaysian system. Our high commission in Kuala Lumpur follows the situation of refugees in Malaysia closely, including the activities of government agencies such as RELA.
	We have no plans to raise RELA with the Malaysian Government. Our high commission in Kuala Lumpur is in contact with the Office of the UN high commissioner for refugees on a regular basis on this issue.

Sudan: China

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on Chinese investment in the Sudanese oil industry and the likely impact of such investments on the conflict in Darfur; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what the Government's policy is on Chinese involvement in the Sudanese oil industry; whether he has made representations to his Chinese counterpart on this issue, with particular reference to Darfur; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: We are expanding dialogue and co-operation with China on African issues including Sudan, and urging China to use its influence to play a constructive role on Darfur.
	My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister agreed with Premier Wen on 18 January in Beijing to advance the deployment of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur, a ceasefire and a political process in Darfur, and that the international community should support recovery and economic reconstruction in Darfur.
	We welcome comments at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa on 30 January by China's Special Envoy for Africa, Liu Guijin, calling publicly on the Government of Sudan to do more to end the crisis in Darfur. UK Ministers had further talks on these issues with Chinese counterparts during the Chinese Special Envoy's visit to the UK on 21-22 February and my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary's visit to China on 25-29 February.

Sudan: China

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps his Department is taking to promote awareness of the Darfur crisis in China; whether he has made representations to the Chinese authorities on Chinese investment in Sudan; whether he has been informed by the Chinese government of its intentions regarding the humanitarian crisis in Sudan; and if he will make a statement.

Meg Munn: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister agreed key objectives on Darfur with Chinese Premier Wen in his visit to China on 18 January.
	UK Ministers agreed with the Chinese Special Envoy for Africa, Liu Guijin, in London on 21-22 February the key goals of accelerating the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur deployment so as to improve security and humanitarian access, re- energising the Darfur political process, and supporting implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary reinforced these messages during his visit to China on 25-29 February, both in talks with Chinese Ministers and in a public speech at Peking University.